By FX Empire.com

The AUD/USD pair fluctuated last week despite the low volume in the markets due to the Christmas holiday, while the US dollar dominated last week’s trading to record more gains against other majors.

The ECB announcement regarding its balance sheet helped the dollar to control the FX market, as risk aversion returned to the financial market due to expectations that the EU debt crisis still deepened in the EU zone.

The higher-yielding currencies retreated against the greenback and the yen, as a result of the weak risk appetite in the FX market, where the US dollar was the big winner after investors considered it the safe haven currency in the market along with the Japanese yen.

Expectations for the AUD/USD pair remain to the downside, while this week could witness a thin trading due to the New Year holiday, which will drag investors out of the market.

Major highlights for this week that will burden the AUD/USD pair’s trading:

Monday January 02:

On Monday, both economics will not issue any fundamental due to the New Year holiday, where low volume will dominate the pair’s movement.

Tuesday December 03:

On Tuesday at 22:30 GMT (Monday), The Australian economy will release the AiG Performance of Manufacturing Index for December, where the previous reading was 47.8.

At 05:30 GMT the RBA Commodity Price Index for December will be up, which had a prior reading of 107.7, as for the annual reading it had a prior reading of 18.1%.

On Tuesday at 15:00 GMT, theU.S.economy will release the Construction Spending for November, where the previous reading was 0.8% and it’s expected to come at 0.5%.

The ISM Manufacturing for December will be up at the same time, and it’s expected to come at 53.2 from the prior 52.7.

On the other hand, the Federal Reserve Bank ofAmericawill release the FOMC minutes for Dec. 13 meeting at 19:00 GMT, where the bank statement will affect the pair’s movements.

Wednesday December 04:

On Wednesday the Australian economy will release the AiG Performance of Service Index for December at 22:30 GMT, where the prior reading was 47.7.

At 12:00 GMT, the American Factory Orders for November will be published, where the expectations refer to 2.0% from the previous drop of 0.4%. While the Total Vehicle Sales for December is expected to come at 13.50 million from the prior 13.59 million.

Thursday December 05:

On Thursday at 00:00 GMT the HIA New Home Sales for November will be up about the Australian economy, where the previous reading was 5.5%.

At 00:30 GMT the Australian economy will issue the Trade Balance for November, where the prior reading showed a surplus of 1595 million and it’s expected to show a surplus of 2000 million.

TheU.S.economy will release the ADP employment change for August at 13:15 GMT, where it’s expected to come at 165 thousands from the previous reading of 206 thousands.

At 12:30 GMT, U.S. economy will issue its weekly initial claims numbers, where the number of people filing for first-time claims for the state unemployment insurance increased 381 thousand last week.

On the other hand, the ISM Non-Manufacturing for December will be up at 15:00 GMT, where it had a previous reading of 52.0 and it is expected to come at 53.0.

Friday December 06:

On Friday at 22:30 GMT (Thursday),Australia will release the AiG Performance of Construction Index for December, where the previous reading was 39.6.

Originally posted here