The greenback has bounced back on the back of data indicating the US labour market was recovering, bringing the Aussie dollar down from its 72 US cents mark
The Aussie dollar has continued to slide as the greenback ‘roars back to life’ amid hopes of a US labour market recovery.
Having topped 72 US cents late last week, and been at 71.82 US cents on Friday, at 0700 AEDT on Monday the local unit was trading at 70.80 US cents. Earlier in the session The Aussie dollar dropped as low as 70.67 US cents.
Overnight, the US dollar continued to rebound after declining at the end of last week. The greenback’s rise was spurred by US non-farm payroll data, released on Friday, that showed a drop in unemployment and a sharp rise in wage growth, indicating the US labour market was recovering.
National Australia Bank’s global co-head of FX strategy Ray Attrill says that although commodity prices were set back by the stronger US dollar, it was commodity currencies like the Australian dollar that fared worse.
‘Just when many had been starting to write the US dollar’s epitaph, it roared back to life – no more so than against the Aussie dollar,’ Mr Attrill said in a statement.
He said that with Chinese New Year celebrations and Waitangi Day holiday in New Zealand on Monday, Sydney and Tokyo had been left to run the show.
It’s not clear which way the Aussie dollar will go today, with the only local data due out on Monday being ANZ figures on job advertisements for January, an indicator of the near-term employment outlook.
AAP & Inside Small Business