Aussie dollar trades above US$0.66
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Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback currently trading at 0.6606 at the time of writing. The Aussie dollar continued its winning streak for the third successive session on Friday. The hawkish sentiment surrounding the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) bolsters the strength of the Aussie dollar and underpinning the AUD/USD pair. On the data front this week Australia’s central bank is expected to maintain its key policy rate at 4.35% for a fourth consecutive meeting on Tuesday, and likely until the end of September. Inflation has come in higher than expected during the March quarter, dampening expectations of interest rate cuts later in the year. The latest Consumer Price Index data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed prices increased by 1 per cent during the March quarter, leaving the annual inflation rate at 3.6 per cent. Economists had expected inflation to increase by 0.8 per cent in the March quarter, and by 3.5 per cent annually.Key Movers
In the United States last week we saw the releases of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) and Unemployment Rate for April on Friday. Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose 175,000 in April, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. This reading followed the 315,000 increase (revised from 303,000) recorded in March and came in below the market expectation of 243,000. Further details of the jobs report showed that the Unemployment Rate edged higher to 3.9% from 3.8%, while the Labor Force Participation Rate held steady at 62.7%. Additionally, wage inflation, as measured by the change in the Average Hourly Earnings, declined to 3.9% on a yearly basis from 4.1%. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell remains cautious about inflation's uncertain trajectory, emphasizing that restrictive monetary policy has curtailed economic overheating. Market predictions for a Fed rate reduction by September have intensified due to the weak labor market figures. US Treasury bond yields plunged with the 2-year yield at 4.80%, while the 5-year and 10-year yields declined to 4.50% and 4.58%, respectively.Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6500 - 0.6700 ▲
- AUD/EUR: 0.6030 - 0.6230 ▲
- GBP/AUD: 1.8830 - 1.9030 ▼
- AUD/NZD: 1.0900 - 1.1100 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8930 - 0.9130 ▲