AUD/USD: Aussie Best Performing Major Currency ahead of Christmas Day

The Australian dollar closed higher on Monday and continues to be well supported, being one of the best performing major currencies. On the foreign exchange market, the Australian dollar was seen trading  between a range of 0.68 and 0.68 against the US dollar.

It’s worth to note that year-to-date the Aussie is still quoted below its 2019 opening rate. The Australian dollar is on track to post its second consecutive annual losses being down -2.12% YTD.

Moving forward, currency traders are bracing for light trading volume as the economic calendar is stripped away from risk events that are capable to generate some volatility. The natural ebb and flow of forex transactions will be the main culprit of any sudden movements in the AUD exchange rate.

In other news, last week’s RBA minutes have revealed that the Australian central bank is ready to easy again to boost its lackluster economic growth and to help the labour market gaining traction. The Australian economy only grew modestly in the third quarter of 2019 and posted 0.4% GDP growth, which was below the central bank forecast.

The downbeat economic data has fueled the expectation that the Royal Bank of Australia will slash interest rates at its next policy meeting in February 2020. The benchmark interest rate in Australia was kept on hold at 0.75%, but many economists are expecting the cash rate to be lowered to 0.25% in an effort to spur growth.

Elsewhere, the price of the precious metal Gold is ending the year on a strong note tracking its seasonal pattern. XAUUSD price broke into a fresh seven-week high after it touched a high of $1,493 per ounce. The increased safe-haven demand for the yellow metal was motivated by lackluster US economic data.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of major currencies, slipped slightly lower as currency traders entered the New York trading session and was quoted almost unchanged at 97.72 from yesterday’s closing price

The Australian 10-year government bond yield was seen quoted unchanged at 1.319%.

Currencylive.com is a news site only and not a currency trading platform.

Currencylive.com is a site operated by TransferWise Inc. (“We”, “Us”), a Delaware Corporation. We do not guarantee that the website will operate in an uninterrupted or error-free manner or is free of viruses or other harmful components. The content on our site is provided for general information only and is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of its subject. We expressly disclaim any contractual or fiduciary relationship with you on the basis of the content of our site, any you may not rely thereon for any purpose. You should consult with qualified professionals or specialists before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date, and DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some of the content posted on this site has been commissioned by Us, but is the work of independent contractors. These contractors are not employees, workers, agents or partners of TransferWise and they do not hold themselves out as one. The information and content posted by these independent contractors have not been verified or approved by Us. The views expressed by these independent contractors on currencylive.com do not represent our views.