Aussie dollar continues to trade above 63 US cents
Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is slightly weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback. The Aussie dollar fell against the Greenback on Friday in the mid-North American session after the pair hit a daily high of 0.6328. Still, risk-aversion amidst heightened tension in the Middle East weighs on the AUD/USD, which trades at 0.6318, down 0.17%. In other news, the Australian sharemarket plunged on Friday to finish the week 2.1 per cent lower as traders worry about the ongoing conflict. The S & P/ASX200 fell 1.2 per cent to 6,900.7 points, while the All Ordinaries also lost 1.2 per cent to sit at 7,089.7 points. The benchmark was a sea of red, with 10 of 11 industry sectors falling. Energy stocks were the sole winners, rising 0.16 per cent as Brent crude futures jumped 1 per cent to $US93.27 a barrel. The Greenback remains strong as risk appetite keeps US equities in the red, while US Treasury bond yields dropped.On the data front, there are no scheduled releases today. Looking ahead this week and on Tuesday we will see the release of the Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which is a survey of about 400 purchasing managers which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock is also due to speak at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Global Markets Conference, in Sydney. As head of the central bank, which controls short term interest rates, she has more influence over the nation's currency value than any other person. On Wednesday all eyes will be on the Australian Bureau of Statistics when they release the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is forecast to see YOY inflation rise from 5.2% to 5.4%.
Key Movers
The GBP/USD pair was looking to squeeze out some gains before the Friday closing bell, stretching into 1.2170 during the session on Friday. Despite a miss for UK Retail Sales earlier in the day, the Pound Sterling did benefit from a general softening in the US Dollar. British retail sales fell more than expected in September as shoppers avoided buying autumn clothing during unseasonably warm weather, against a backdrop of broader cost of living pressures that could see the economy shrink overall in the third quarter. Retail sales volumes dropped by 0.9% on the month after a 0.4% rise in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday, a much bigger decline than the 0.2% fall economists had forecast in a Reuters poll. Over the third quarter as a whole, sales volumes fell 0.8% - the biggest drop since the three months to the end of February and one exacerbated by an unusually wet July which upset normal summer spending patterns. Friday's data showed that the volume of goods bought in September was 3% lower than in 2019, despite shoppers spending 17% more. Overall consumer price inflation in Britain was an annual 6.7% in September, the highest of any major advanced economy.Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6200 - 0.6400 ▼
- AUD/EUR: 0.5830 - 0.6030 ▼
- GBP/AUD: 1.9030 - 1.9230 ▲
- AUD/NZD: 1.0700 - 1.0900 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8500 - 0.8700 ▼