AUD/USD opens within touching distance of 0.75
Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar rose 0.2% on Friday to again challenge the 0.75 mark and again fall slightly short. Opening this morning at 0.7497, the Aussie opens within striking distance of 0.75.With little on the domestic docket to digest, the Aussie found its feet during the US trading session with Non-Farm employment and the US unemployment rate being released. Non-Farm Employment came in below expectations but US unemployment came in at 3.6%, 0.1% better than expected. While the results were mixed, the greenback rebounded and forced the Aussie lower towards the close. Nevertheless, the Aussie did find enough to eke out a small gain against the world's reserve currency on a daily basis.
Moving into Monday all eyes remain on the developing talks between Russia and Ukraine with remote talks to continue on Monday.
Key Movers
With the economic calendar heavily favouring US data releases on Friday, it comes as no surprise that the greenback saw the largest movements. The US dollar index rose 0.26% and did particularly well against safe- havens, the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc, recording a 0.67% and 0.33% gain. Nevertheless, US Data was mixed to say the least with Nonfarm Employment recording a 431k rise against 490k expected. Unemployment however lowered from 3.8% in February to 3.6% in March, beating expectations by 0.1%. Adding fuel to the fire was US ISM Manufacturing PMI which recorded a reading of 57.1 in March which was well below the 58.6 in February and significantly lower than the 59 estimated by analysts. Furthermore, US equities recorded losses and interestingly, US Treasury yields showed the short-end of the curve rising more than the long-dated maturities suggesting that the US economy might slow down in the future. Regardless of the mixed data, the greenback recorded a meaningful, yet tempered gain on Friday against a basket of currencies.Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.7445 - 0.7536 ▲
- AUD/EUR: 0.6738 - 0.6825 ▲
- GBP/AUD: 1.7384 - 1.7594 ▼
- AUD/NZD: 1.0757 - 1.0885 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.9323 - 0.9436 ▲