gbp-aud-bank-notes-and-coins - AUD
  • Investors continue to weigh up coronavirus concerns against economic re-openings
  • US new daily covid cases reach 60,000 unnerving investors
  • Australia sees cases climb by 288, despite Melbourne lockdown
  • The Australian US Dollar (AUD/USD) exchange rate is trading flat in a quiet session at the end of the week.

The Aussie settled -0.25% lower versus its US counterpart on Thursday at US$0.6964.

At 12:45 UTC, AUD/USD trades flat at US$0.6964, having recovered from earlier falls. The pair traded within a familiar daily range of US$0.6924 – US$0.6966 driven principally by sentiment.

The battle that has plagued the market all week – rising coronavirus numbers vs economic recovery continued to dominate on Friday.

Coronavirus concerns drag on market sentiment as investors fret over rising cases in the US and Australia and the potential to undermine the global economic recovery. However, encouraging economic data boosts optimism surrounding a rapid economic recovery.

Yesterday US jobless claims showed that the number of American’s who signed up for unemployment benefits fell to a 4 month low last week. The number of continuing claims, which shed light on the rate that Americans are being re-hired also printed lower than forecast implying that the jobs market was in a slightly better position than initially feared.

US Coronavirus cases increased by 60,000 a new record. This is weighing on sentiment, boosting the safe haven greenback whilst dragging on the Aussie Dollar. The surging numbers mean that there is a good chance that US economic data will start to deteriorate again in the coming weeks.

A further 288 cases in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city have been announced, along with news that Australian resident international arrival will be cut by half to 4000 a week in an attempt to keep a tight control on the spread of coronavirus and its arrival from other countries.

Coronavirus headlines and sentiment are expected to drive the Australian Dollar for the coming sessions. Domestic data only picks up on Tuesday with business confidence numbers in focus.