Dollar bounces back from the gutter

Key Movers

Initial jobless claims in the UK jumped to above 1 million (against expectations of a drop compared to last month). Although continuing claims edged slightly lower to 14.8 million, while UK Retail sales returned to pre-pandemic levels, posting a 3.6% increase from July. The Office for National Statistics confirmed sales are now 3% higher than February before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic and the UK was placed in lockdown.The Australian dollar struggled to regain its momentum yesterday after falling a full cent from eight-month highs following the release of US Federal Reserve minutes. Declining from Wednesday night highs of 0.7275, the local currency opened at 0.7180 and continued its shift lower yesterday to intraday lows of 0.7135 during the Asian session amid falling oil prices. Equities were also under pressure seeing a 0.8% drop on the ASX 200 following the soft lead on Wall Street.Commodity linked currencies were broadly lower over the past 24 hours with the New Zealand dollar seeing the biggest losses on weaker oil prices overnight. Oil prices dropped on concerns for the world’s largest offshore oil rig company Valaris Plc filed for voluntary bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas as they looked to restructure $7 billion in debt.