Aussie dollar finds support below 66 US cents
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Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is slightly stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback, currently trading at 0.6582 at time of writing. The Aussie dollar rebounded from intraday losses on Tuesday and is striving to shift into positive territory on Wednesday. On the data front, yesterday the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index remained virtually unchanged at 81.7, marking 59 consecutive weeks below the 85-point threshold, reflecting prolonged consumer cautiousness. Consumer confidence varied across the states, with increases in New South Wales and Queensland but decreases in Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia. Current financial conditions revealed that only 18% (down 1ppt) of Australians feel financially better off than last year, the lowest so far this year, with 52% (down 1ppt) feeling worse off. Australians are split on their financial outlook for the next year, with 32% (down 1ppt) anticipating they'll be financially better off, while an equal percentage expects to be worse off (up 2ppt). Looking ahead, today the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the unemployment figures for the month which is predicted to see the jobless rate decrease from 4.1% to 4%.Key Movers
US Federal Reserve officials signalled that they still expect to cut their key interest rate three times in 2024, despite signs that inflation stayed surprisingly high at the start of the year. Yet they foresee fewer rate cuts in 2025, and they slightly raised their inflation forecasts. After ending their latest meeting, the officials kept their benchmark interest rate unchanged for a fifth straight time. It comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent. The Fed's policymakers now foresee three rate cuts in 2025, down from four in their December projections. They expect “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, to still be 2.6 per cent by the end of 2024, up from their previous projection of 2.4 per cent. In January, core inflation was 2.8 per cent, according to the Fed's preferred measure.The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up nearly a full per cent on Wednesday and etching fresh all-time peaks after investors found the buy button following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) latest rate call, which saw the US central bank hold rates at 5.5% as investors had broadly expected. The Dow Jones drifted into an early low near 39,000.00 on Wednesday before recovering to 39,160.00. The S&P 500 closed at a record high above 5200 points. The Nasdaq Composite leapt more than 1 per cent in the final two hours.
Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6500 - 0.6700 ▲
- AUD/EUR: 0.5900 - 0.6100 ▲
- GBP/AUD: 1.9300 - 1.9500 ▼
- AUD/NZD: 1.0700 - 1.0900 ▼
- AUD/CAD: 0.8800 - 0.9000 ▲