Restrained AUD/USD reaction to Above-Consensus Rise in Aussie House Price Index in Q4

Australian house prices continued to increase in Q4, according to data released by the country’s Bureau of Statistics on Monday (Sunday night EST). The Aussie house price index rose 5.2% on the quarter in the last three months of 2009, which was a faster pace than both the 3.5% gain economists had expected and the revised 4.4% increase in Q3. Annualized, prices rose 13.6%, overarching the consensus call for an 11.0% gain and more-than doubling the revised 6.6% rise previously. Despite the upbeat data, the Australian dollar’s reaction was restrained: AUD/USD initially slipped by 4 pips to $0.8857USD, before firming by 8 pips to $0.8865USD. The pair remains close to its session high of $0.8872USD, hit about half-an-hour before the Aussie home prices data’s release.