The AUD has softened slightly after the US Federal Reserve indicated they were optimistic that the US economy would continue to recover and they saw no reason...

The AUD has softened slightly after the US Federal Reserve indicated they were optimistic that the US economy would continue to recover and they saw no reason to deviate from their continued path of reducing the stimulus through lesser bond purchases each month. The AUD came off its highs during the overnight session when the minutes were released. In Australia yesterday our wage price growth figures were in line with estimates rising 0.7% qoq and were 2.6% yoy which is the weakest since 1999. The US Fed also noted in their minutes that as unemployment reduced toward 6.5% they would provide further guidance on the future path of interest rates. UK labour reports were slightly softer than expected with their unemployment rate for the three months through December rising 0.1% from 7.1% to 7.2%.