gbp-aud-currency-exchange
  • Australian Dollar (AUD) is under pressure in risk off trading
  • Rising covid cases in Europe are unnerving investors
  • The Trump administration bans WeChat & TikTok Downloads from Sunday
  • US consumer confidence soars to March highs

The Australian Dollar US Dollar (AUD/USD) exchange rate is trending lower on Friday, after rallying across the rest of the week. The pair settled +0.1% higher on Thursday at US$0.7312. At 13:15 UTC, AUD/USD is trading -0.3% at US$0.7291. The pair set to end the week 0.1% higher after trading flat across the previous week.

The risk Australian Dollar is trading on the back foot on the final trading day of the week. Concerns over rising coronavirus cases, particularly in Europe are dragging on risk sentiment. The number of coronavirus cases are spiking in the UK and on mainland Europe, raising fears of a second national lockdown.  Riskier assets such as stocks are also on the back foot.

The Trump administration announcing that Chinese owned WeChat and TikTok downloads will be banned as from Sunday evening, elevating US – Sino tensions also added to the risk off mood.

US consumer confidence continued to improve in September. According to the closely watched University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey preliminary reading showed the index climbed to 78.9 in September, up from 74.1 in August. Economist had expected the index to show a more modest increase to 75.

Consumer morale is at the highest level since March but is still significantly below the 101 reading seen in February. This is good news for the US economy. When consumers are confident, they tend to spend more, which is particularly important in a consumer driven economy such as the US.

The data comes after the US Federal Reserve forecast a softer downturn this year than initially feared. The Fed now expect the US economy to contract -3.7% in 2020, rather than -6.5% previously forecast.

There is no more high impacting economic data due from the US or Australia, leaving sentiment to drive the pair into the weekend.