- Rising risk sentiment on hopes of a speedy economic recovery boosts Australian Dollar (AUD)
- US jobs data supported hopes of a speedy economic recovery dragging on safe haven US Dollar (USD)
- Australian business confidence & job advertisement data in focus
- At 14:15 UTC, Australian Dollar to US Dollar (AUD/USD) trades +0.3% at US$0.6989
The Australian Dollar continues to flirt with US$0.70 as an upbeat market mood supports the perceived riskier currency. The Australian Dollar has been tear since April, gaining 4.5% versus its US counterpart across the past week alone.
At 13:15 UTC, AUD/AUD trades +0.3% at US$0.6989, close to the session high of US$0.7003 reached overnight and just shy of the 5 month top of US$0.7014 reached on Friday.
Risk sentiment remains well supported by expectations that the worst of the coronavirus crisis has passed. Hopes of a quicker recovery are being supported by news that New Zealand has successfully eliminated coronavirus from its country and following the astonishing rise in the number of US jobs.
Friday’s US payroll numbers showed that 2.5 million jobs were created in May, defying expectations of 8 million job losses. The unexpected rebound in the US labour market has fuelled optimism that the US economy is in a better position than analysts initially thought. This has played into the divergences of the Australian Dollar US Dollar exchange rate, boosting the riskier Aussie Dollar, whilst dragging on the safe haven US Dollar.
With no high impacting US high data expected, investors will be looking ahead to the US Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Whilst jobs data and car sales data have rebounded suggesting that the economy could be experiencing a more vigorous rebound than anticipated, the Fed is expected to stick with its cautious tone, warning of the rocky road ahead.
Australian Dollar investors will look ahead to the release of business confidence data on Tuesday morning local time. Analysts are expecting to see a National Australia Bank’s business confidence gauge move higher to -32, up from -46. Job advertisement data will also be closely watched.
Unemployment in Australia recorded 600,000 job losses in May, with the unemployment rate rising to 6.2%. The Reserve Bank of Australia have warned that this could reach over 10% amid the damage cause by the covid-19 lockdown.
