Aussie dollar continues to trade above US$0.66
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Daily Currency Update
The Australian dollar is slightly weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback currently trading at 0.6602 at the time of writing. The Australian dollar experienced additional losses against the US dollar on Friday despite strong labor market data from Australia reported earlier in the week, which prompted a more hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Australia’s unemployment rate eased last month as employers shrugged off rising costs including higher interest bills to keep adding to their workforces. The jobless rate was 4% in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. That was in line with economists’ predictions and was a slight drop from April’s 4.1%. The economy added a net 39,700 jobs last month. Economists had predicted the tally of job gains to come in at about 30,000. Full-time roles, which cover 35 hours or more per week, rose by 41,700 in May. Part-time jobs fell by about 2,000, the ABS said. The RBA and Treasury expect the jobless rate to remain at 4% next month before rising to about 4.3% by June 2025. The RBA meets on Tuesday which is expected to leave interest rates on hold at 4.35% as investors will look for further clues. Markets are pricing the first rate cut only for May 2025. Still, risks are skewed toward an earlier start.Key Movers
In the US on Friday the US Producer Price Index (PPI) climbed 2.2% YoY in May, compared to the 2.3% rise in April, below the forecast of 2.5%. The core PPI figure rose 2.3% YoY in May, below the consensus and the previous reading of 2.4%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Thursday. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending June 6 increased by 242K, the highest in ten months. This figure came above the market consensus of 225K and the previous week's reading of 229K.The Euro slipped further into the low end on Friday, clipping into 1.0670 before recovering to the 1.0700 handle against the greenback during the US market session. Political pressure is weighing down the Euro after a wide shift in European voter sentiment tilted towards right-of-center political parties in European parliamentary elections. European Central Bank (ECB) officials have been working to reassure the market as the Euro has performed poorly this week compared to other major currencies. French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the French government and called for a snap election in an effort to counter the rise of right-wing contender Marine Le Pen, who achieved a surprising victory in the European parliamentary elections. The EUR/USD pair is currently trading at 1.0682 at the time of writing.
Expected Ranges
- AUD/USD: 0.6500 - 0.6700 ▼
- AUD/EUR: 0.6050 - 0.6150 ▼
- GBP/AUD: 1.9000 - 1.9200 ▲
- AUD/NZD: 1.0650 - 1.0850 ▼
- AUD/CAD: 0.8950 - 0.9150 ▼