Aussie dollar trades back above US$0.66 US
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Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is slightly weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback currently trading at 0.6644 at time of writing. The Aussie dollar finished the week higher as the Greenback struggles to hold recovery from a fresh 10-day low on Thursday, which was driven by upbeat United States Retail Sales data for July and lower-than-expected Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending August 9. Last week on the data front Australia’s unemployment rate ticked higher last month, even as employers added about three times as many jobs as expected. The job gains will probably discourage the Reserve Bank from cutting its key interest rate in the near term. The jobless rate in July rose to 4.2%, seasonally adjusted, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. Economists had expected the rate to remain in line with June’s 4.1% level for June. The economy added 58,200 jobs last month, with 60,500 full-time roles added and 2,300 part-time jobs shed. Economists had tipped employers would have added a net 20,000 positions. The 4.2% jobless rate was the highest since January 2022. Still, March aside, the economy had added jobs every month this year, with the monthly average topping 40,000. The participation rate, which gauges the share of the working age population in the workforce, clicked higher to a record 67.1%. Looking ahead to this week and on Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release the latest Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes which is a detailed record of the RBA Reserve Bank Board's most recent meeting, providing in-depth insights into the economic conditions that influenced their decision on where to set interest rates. On Thursday we will see the release of both the Flash Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI).Key Movers
Last week in the United States retail sales accelerated in July by the most since early 2023 in a broad advance that points to a resilient consumer, even in the face of high prices and borrowing costs. The value of retail purchases, unadjusted for inflation, increased 1 per cent in July and helped by a sharp snapback in car sales, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. Excluding autos and gasoline stations, sales were up 0.4 per cent. The report showcases a consumer that’s holding up despite higher borrowing costs, a cooling labour market and an uncertain economic outlook. On Thursday the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, another sign that the job market remains resilient in the face of high interest rates. Jobless claims dropped by 7,000 to 227,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 4,500 to 236,500. In the week that ended Aug. 3, 1.86 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits, down by 7,000 from the week before. The Federal Reserve, fighting inflation that hit a four-decade just over two years ago, raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, taking it to a 23-year high. Inflation has come down steadily from 9.1% in June 2022 to a three-year low of 2.9% last month. Despite higher borrowing costs, the economy and hiring kept cruising along, defying widespread fears that the United States would sink into recession.Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6550 - 0.6750 ▲
- AUD/EUR: 0.5950 - 0.6150 ▲
- GBP/AUD: 1.9250 - 1.9450 ▼
- AUD/NZD: 1.0900 - 1.1100 ▼
- AUD/CAD: 0.9000 - 0.9200 ▲