AUD – Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is slightly stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback, currently trading at 0.6801 at time of writing. The AUD/USD pair posts a fresh eight-month high in Thursday’s European session. The Aussie asset strengthens as the US dollar retreats in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement. On the local front yesterday, the jobless rate in August was 4.2%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday, matching the July figure and economists’ expectations. Australia’s economy added more jobs than expected in August as the unemployment rate remained steady, making a Reserve Bank interest rate cut less likely in the short term. Employers added a net 47,500 jobs last month compared with the 26,000 economists had predicted. Of the added jobs, more than 50,000 were part time, with 3,100 full-time roles shed. The participation rate remained at a record high 67.1 per cent last month. The employment-to-population ratio lifted slightly, to 64.3 per cent, so it’s now sitting just below its record high of 64.4 per cent. That is also unlikely to pressure the RBA into a September cut, with Governor Michele Bullock last month acknowledging the two nations have different rate cycles at the moment. She signaled the RBA would be unlikely to follow the Fed’s decisions, instead earmarking a potential rise in the Australian dollar on the back of a higher American cash rate.
Key Movers
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the USD against a basket of currencies, is trading flat near 100.70 on Thursday, as the market digests the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) 50-basis-point (bps) cut. Gold prices advanced on Thursday reclaiming $2,600. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades at $2,589, up over 1%. Meanwhile, US Treasury yields follow Gold’s footsteps, with the 10-year T-note yielding 3.74%, rising three and a half basis points. However, this has failed to underpin the Greenback, which, according to the US Dollar Index (DXY), dropped 0.31% to 100.62. On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department, released on Thursday, provided a snapshot of the economy’s health. It reported jobless rolls have shrunk to levels last seen in early June and initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ended Sept. 14, the lowest level since the middle of May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 230,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have been little changed since dropping from an 11-month high of 250,000 in late July, which economists mostly blamed on temporary plant shutdowns in the automobile industry.
Expected Ranges
AUD/USD: 0.6700 – 0.6900 ▲
AUD/EUR: 0.6000 – 0.6200 ▲
GBP/AUD: 1.9350 – 1.9550 ▼
AUD/NZD: 1.0800 – 1.1000 ▲
AUD/CAD: 0.9100 – 0.9300 ▼