Home Daily Commentaries Aussie dollar continues to trade above US$0.67

Aussie dollar continues to trade above US$0.67

Daily Currency Update

The Australian dollar is slightly stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback currently trading at 0.6730 at time of writing. The Aussie dollar held its ground against the Greenback on Friday, which weakened following soft US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) figures but stands at its highest level since early January.  Last week the Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) June monetary policy meeting showed Tuesday that the “board judged the case for holding rates steady stronger than for hiking.” Members observed that inflation was still above central bank targets in most economies, and services price inflation had generally been stronger than expected since the start of the year. However, in some economies where output gaps were clearly negative, such as Canada and Sweden, services price inflation had continued to moderate. The labour market was still assessed as tight relative to full employment, though conditions had continued to ease gradually in recent months as expected. The case to hold the cash rate steady at this meeting would also be strengthened to the extent that risks to the outlook for the labour market were seen to be to the downside. Looking ahead this week and on Tuesday we will see both the Westpac Consumer Sentiment and the NAB Business Confidence. On Thursday the Melbourne Institute will release the Consumer Inflation Expectations. Expectations of future inflation can manifest into real inflation, primarily because workers tend to push for higher wages when they believe prices will rise.

Key Movers

In the US on Friday Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose 206,000 in June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. This reading followed the 218,000 increase (revised from 272,000) recorded in May and came in above the market expectation of 190,000. The initial jobs report showed that the Unemployment Rate edged higher to 4.1% from 4%, while the Labor Force Participation Rate ticked up to 62.6% from 62.5%. Finally, wage inflation, as measured by the change in the Average Hourly Earnings, declined to 3.9% on a yearly basis from 4.1%, matching the market expectation.

In the UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has officially become the UK’s new prime minister with his party winning more than 400 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons the lower house of Britain’s parliament. The Conservative Party suffered a dramatic collapse after a tumultuous 14 years in power, which saw five different prime ministers run the country. It lost 250 seats over the course of a devastating night. The result marks a stunning reversal from the 2019 election when Labour, led by the veteran left-wing politician Jeremy Corbyn, suffered its worst electoral defeat in almost a century.

Expected Ranges

  • AUD/USD: 0.6650 - 0.6850 ▲
  • AUD/EUR: 0.6130 - 0.6330 ▲
  • GBP/AUD: 1.8850 - 1.9050 ▼
  • AUD/NZD: 1.0850 - 1.1050 ▲
  • AUD/CAD: 0.9100 - 0.9200 ▲

Written by

Brett Ottawa

OFXpert

Brett brings a wealth of experience, boasting more than 15 years in the foreign exchange market. He started his foreign exchange career with OFX more than a decade ago, as a private dealer catering to individual clients. He later transitioned to the corporate sector, assuming the position of Corporate Senior Relationship Manager. What truly excites Brett is the opportunity to engage with people, supporting their business growth and sharing in their successes.