Trade wars back with a 'cooler' bias, antipodeans better-off

Analysts at Westpac noted the price action surrounding the antipodeans and an insight into the latest round of trade war noise. 

Key Quotes:

"China’s strong response to US tariffs was received fairly calmly in Asian trade but by the London morning, US equity futures were sharply lower, dragging US treasury yields and AUD with them. The S&P 500 opened -1.5% but then ground steadily higher through the day, closing up 1.2%."

"Some of the turnaround seems to have come on an apparent scramble at the White House to calm markets. Newly appointed economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that President Trump is “ultimately a free trader” and suggested that US tariffs on Chinese goods were “part of the process”, implying that there would be no escalation."

"AUD/USD made a round trip from 0.7710 to 0.7663 and back to 0.7710/20. NZD outperformed, extending the previous day’s gains from 0.7260 to 0.7311 – a three week high. As a result, AUD/NZD extended its multi-month decline to 1.0527 – a nine-month low."