Home Daily Commentaries Aussie dollar consolidates gains around 0.74 US cents

Aussie dollar consolidates gains around 0.74 US cents

Daily Currency Update

The Australian dollar finished another week with solid gains beyond 0.74 US cents, hitting a 28-month high, against the Greenback. The Aussie dollar last week traded between 0.7340 and 0.7448 urged on by a positive shift in demand for risk, amid hopes of a vaccine. Looking ahead this week and on Monday RBA Governor Philip Lowe will deliver a speech titled "Innovation and Regulation in the Australian Payments System" at a webinar hosted by the Australian Payments Network. On the data front we will see the release of the Australian Industry Group (AIG) Performance of Services Index and monthly ANZ Job Advertisements. On Tuesday we will see the release of quarterly House Price Index (HPI) and the monthly NAB Business Confidence Survey. Finally on Wednesday all eyes will be on the Westpac Consumer Sentiment Survey. China will release its November Trade Balance and inflation data for the same month. From a technical perspective, the AUD/USD pair is currently trading at 0.7392 We continue to expect support to hold on moves approaching 0.7370 while now any upward push will likely meet resistance around 0.7440.

Key Movers

The Greenback rose from 2-1/2-year lows on Friday as European Union and British negotiators decided to put talks on hold, after failing to narrow differences sufficiently to reach a trade agreement, for a post-Brexit trade deal. As a result the Pound Sterling fell 0.2% against the Greenback to $1.3424. The greenback however still posted its worst week in a month after investors shrugged off a weaker-than-expected U.S. employment report and upbeat announcements on COVID-19 vaccines have helped drive a rally in riskier currencies at the expense of the safe-haven dollar. On Friday we saw the release of U.S. non-farm payrolls increased by 245,000 jobs last month after rising by 610,000 in October. That was the smallest gain since the jobs recovery started in May. The US has quite a light calendar this week, as the country will publish the December Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index´s preliminary estimate and the final readings of its November inflation figures.

Expected Ranges

  • AUD/USD: 0.7370 - 0.7460 ▲
  • AUD/EUR: 0.6060 - 0.6160 ▲
  • GBP/AUD: 1.7850 - 1.8050 ▼
  • AUD/NZD: 1.0420 - 1.0550 ▲
  • AUD/CAD: 0.9500 - 0.9600 ▲