US data was mixed/soft, commodity bloc up - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac noted that there were several second-tier US data releases, with mixed outcomes but markets reading them overall as a little soft and commodity currencies hardened. 

Key Quotes:

"Durable goods orders rose 3.4% in April (vs 0.5% expected). However excluding defence orders resulted in a 0.8% fall (vs +0.3% expected). Core shipments rose 0.3% in April, +0.2ppts better than consensus, but the last month was revised down by a large 0.8ppts. Jobless claims were 268k in the latest reporting week (vs 275k expected). However claims are averaging an elevated 280k in May, posing downside risks for the key payrolls report for May. Pending home sales rose 5.1% (vs 0.7% expected), leaving the index at a decade high.

"AUD/USD rose from 0.7190 in the London morning to as high as 0.7244 before steadying around 0.7220 in NY. NZD/USD similarly rose from 0.6695 late Sydney to 0.6767 before consolidating around 0.6740. AUD/NZD was choppy but overall a little lower, just above 1.0700. Spot iron ore (MBI) printed below $50/tonne for the first time since 29 February, -1.8% to $49.48."