The AUD dipped Monday, hurt along with regional equities by a late Friday decision by S&P’s to downgrade nine European nations. The wave of rating downgrades that hit France and eight other euro-zone nations was particularly harmful to the risk-sensitive AUD as the move cast fresh doubts over the monetary union’s ability to bail itself out of financial crisis and rescue Greece. Even so, the AUD recovered some of its initial losses over the course of the session.
At 0420 GMT, the AUD was trading at US$1.0277, down from US$1.0320 late Friday but up from a session low of US$1.0255. Against the JPY, the Australian currency changed hands at Y78.963, down from Y79.205.
On Australia’s shores, the economic picture was largely a mixed bag on Monday with the country’s market providing further signs of improvement when a report showed housing finance demand in November beat expectations. But any positive sentiment was partly offset by a declining measure of job advertisements ahead of a key labor market report on Thursday.
EasyForexNews Research Team