- Australian Dollar (AUD) rises on upbeat mood in the market, whilst safe haven US Dollar (USD) declines
- US housing starts jump 17.3% as US housing market a bright spot in UK economy
- US consumer confidence unexpectedly declines wiping out last month’s gains
- RBA minutes next Tuesday move into focus
The Australian Dollar US Dollar (AUD/USD) exchange rate is trading higher on Friday, although it has eased off from session highs. At 14:15 UTC, AUD/USD is trading +0.2% at US$0.6981. This is still towards the upper end of the daily traded range of US$0.6968 – US$0.69994.
There has been no high impacting Australian Dollar domestic data released on Friday meaning that the risk sensitive Aussie Dollar is being driven by risk sentiment in the broader market and US data.
US data has been a mixed bag on Friday. Firstly, according to the US Commerce Department Housing starts rose 17.3% month on month in June. This was significantly ahead of analysts’ expectations. The housing market appears to be one of the brightest spots in the US economy. Analysts suggest that this could be because those than have lost their jobs due to coronavirus are younger renters.
US consumer confidence, on the other hand, was much more concerning. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading slumped to 73 in the preliminary reading for July. Down from 78.1. Analysts had been expecting an increase in sentiment to 79.
The slump reverses the previous month’s 5.8 point increase and is a troubling sign for the economy. This survey suggests that the recent rise in US coronavirus cases is starting to hurt the economy.
Looking ahead there is no more economic data due to be released. Investors will continue monitoring coronavirus statistics as the number of new daily cases in the US hits 70,000 and as the number of new cases in the state of Victoria, Australia sets a record for new covid cases for a second day in a row. The state has now been isolated from the rest of the country for more than a week.
Next week Australian investors will be looking towards the release of the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest monetary policy meeting. RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe is also expected to speak the same day.
