Aussie dollar continues to trade above 65 US cents
Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is slightly stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback. The AUD/USD pair consolidated its gains between 0.6550 and 0.6570 during the early Asian session on Friday. Market activity was subdued, with US markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Last week the Aussie dollar found support despite local PMI hitting multi-month lows. This could be attributed to the hawkish comments from Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock. Bullock highlighted that the inflation challenge is increasingly fueled by domestic factors, especially demand. RBA's meeting minutes revealed that the board acknowledged a "credible case" against an immediate rate hike but considered the case for tightening stronger due to increased inflation risks. The decision on further tightening would hinge on data and risk assessment. National Australia Bank (NAB) anticipates another RBA rate hike, expecting it to occur at the February 2024 meeting. The AUD/USD pair is currently trading at 0.6559 at the time of writing.Key Movers
The Greenback closed the week down on Friday with the DXY index, which measures the value of the US Dollar versus a basket of global currencies, declining toward 103.45 on the back of mixed S&P PMIs and dovish bets on the Fed. In November, the S&P Global Composite PMI remained stable at 50.7, signaling slight growth in the US private sector. Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.4, indicating a shift into contraction, and the Services PMI increased marginally to 50.8. Looking ahead this week on the US front, housing data, consumer confidence, GDP, Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and ISM Manufacturing PMI.The Pound Sterling advances to a new 12-week high against the Greenback courtesy of better-than-expected data revealed on Thursday, which sparked a sell-off of the US dollar and as a result UK bond yields rose. British consumers have turned more optimistic about the outlook for the economy and their personal finances this month but their mood remains a long way off pre-COVID levels, market research firm GfK said on Friday. Despite lingering cost-of-living pressures, GfK's headline consumer confidence index was stronger than anticipated in November, increasing to -24 from October's three-month low of -30. November's reading was above the -28 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and follows a sharp fall the month before. The six-point increase was the biggest month-on-month improvement since March to April although Friday's reading was still much weaker than just before the coronavirus pandemic hit Britain.
Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6450 - 0.6650 ▲
- AUD/EUR: 0.5900 - 0.6100 ▲
- GBP/AUD: 1.8950 - 1.9150 ▼
- AUD/NZD: 1.0650 - 1.0850 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8830 - 0.9030 ▼