Aussie dollar continues to trade below US$0.63
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Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback currently trading at 0.6277 at time of writing. The Australian dollar extended losses on Friday against the USD after the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report. The AUD/USD pair struggled to recover as risk sentiment deteriorated with traders reacting to weaker-than-expected job growth and softer wage gains. Meanwhile, China’s trade balance data showed an unexpected drop in imports, raising concerns over slowing demand, which weighed further on the Australian dollar. China's imports unexpectedly shrank over the January-February period, while exports lost momentum, as escalating tariff pressures from the United States cast a shadow over the recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The first two months of the year saw the opening salvo of a renewed U.S.-China trade war, with U.S. President Donald Trump imposing an extra 10% levy on Chinese goods, arguing Beijing had not done enough to stem the flow of fentanyl. Imports fell 8.4% year-on-year, customs data showed on Friday, missing the 1% growth forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and a 1% uptick in December. Exports from the largest manufacturing nation rose just 2.3% over the same period, missing expectations for a 5% increase and slowing from December's 10.7% gain. Looking ahead this week and on Tuesday we will see the release of both the Westpac Consumer Sentiment and NAB Business Confidence.Key Movers
The US dollar Index (DXY) extends its brutal slide on Friday, heading for its worst weekly performance in over a year as traders accelerate the selloff ahead of the February employment report. Job growth was weaker than expected in February though still stable despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. Nonfarm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 151,000 on the month, better than the downwardly revised 125,000 in January, but less than the 170,000 consensus forecast from Dow Jones, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate edged higher to 4.1%. The labor force participation rate slumped to 62.4%, its lowest level since January 2023, as the labor force declined by 385,000. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons jumped half a percentage point to 8%, its highest level since October 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) struggled on Friday, falling to a fresh seven-week low below 42,200 before staging a mild recovery to the 42, 800 region. Gold prices fell on Friday as the Greenback trims some of its losses and US Treasury bond yields recover following the release of a US jobs market report. At the time of writing, the XAU/USD trades at $2,907, down 0.11%.Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6200 - 0.6400 ▼
- AUD/EUR: 0.5700 - 0.5900 ▼
- GBP/AUD: 2.0250 - 2.0450 ▲
- AUD/NZD: 1.0900 - 1.1100 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8900 - 0.9100 ▼