Consumer confidence up but Aussie dips
February 10, 2021SharePrint
The Australian dollar has reversed directions on Wednesday, after registering three winning sessions. Currently, AUD/USD is trading at 0.7726, down 0.16% on the day.
Australian Consumer Confidence rises
Australian confidence indicators have enjoyed a good week. In February, the Westpac Consumer Confidence Sentiment index rebounded in impressive style, with a gain of 1.9%. This follows a sharp decline of 4.5% beforehand. The December reading marked a 10-year high, so the Australian consumer is showing a high level of confidence in the economy. Importantly, the index is now 14.2% higher on a year-to year basis, which means the consumer confidence is comfortably higher than its pre-pandemic level. The survey noted that the “light-handed” lockdowns had effectively contained Covid-19, which had contributed to the increase in consumer confidence.
Aussie higher ahead of confidence data
February 8, 2021SharePrint
The Australian dollar has started the trading week in positive territory. Currently, AUD/USD is trading at 0.7706, up 0.37% on the day.
Business and consumer confidence next
Australian releases key business and confidence numbers on Tuesday. NAB Business Confidence (00:30 GMT) slowed to 4 in December, down sharply from 12 beforehand. Westpac Consumer Sentiment (23:30 GMT) also weakened in December, with a reading of -4.5%. This marked the first decline in five months. We now await the January numbers.
Last week wrapped up with a disappointing US nonfarm payrolls report. NFP posted an anemic gain of 49 thousand, missing the estimate of 85 thousand. True, this could be considered a rebound from the previous reading of -140 thousand, but investors were unimpressed and sent the US dollar broadly lower to end the week. The Australian dollar soared on Friday, gaining 1.02 per cent, its best one-day performance in a yea
Aussie dips below 0.77 line
January 18, 2021SharePrint
The Australian dollar has started the new trading week with slight losses. AUD/USD is currently trading at 0.7681, down 0.26% on the day.
US dollar on the move
The US dollar looked like the G-10 punching bag in the latter months of 2020, and the Australian dollar took full advantage by posting sharp gains. The New Year has been witness to a stronger US dollar, and this was apparent on Friday, as the US dollar pummelled the Aussie and gained 0.99% per cent. This marked AUD/USD’s strongest one-day gains since October.
The US dollar’s broad gains on Friday were even more noteworthy, given that US released soft Retail Sales reports on Friday. Headline retail sales fell by 0.7% and core retail sales was even worse, with a decline of 1.4 percent. This marked back-to-back declines for both releases. The drop in consumer spending, a key driver of economic growth, is certainly worrying. At the same time, an important takeaway fro