The US Labor Department confirmed this week that the number of new job positions available to American residents, excluding the farming sector, soared to record highs of 6.163 million in June, up from 5.702 million in the previous month.
This encouraging jobs data has seen the Australian and New Zealand dollars fall lower against the US dollar this week. AUD/USD had declined by as much as 0.39% to 0.7881, reaching an overnight low of 0.7856 – the lowest price in the last three weeks.
The US dollar has traded at one-week highs compared with other leading currencies, following the renewed positivity regarding the state of the American jobs market; this despite the political uncertainty surrounding President Trump. In fact, the greenback is currently remaining steady in the US dollar index at 93.54, in comparison with six of the world’s other influential currencies.
Since the encouraging news about US jobs, it has been mooted that the Federal Reserve could look to forge ahead with its plans to increase interest rates for a third time in 2017. The conjecture has led to financial investors across the globe keeping a close eye on American inflation reports that will soon be published in order to determine just how sustainable the recovery of USD is beyond the short and medium term.
On the other side of the coin, Christopher Kent, assistant governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has admitted that the recent overall decline of USD has influenced the overall appreciation of AUD, amid reports of a collapse of so-called “Trump Trade”.
Ironically, Philip Lowe, governor of the RBA, voiced concern earlier in the month that the rising value of AUD could actually have a negative impact on economic growth, employment and inflation across Australia. A short while afterwards, the Australian central bank slashed growth forecasts for the Australian economy from 3.0% to 2.5% for 2017; thus explaining the recent decline in AUD/USD.
There is no doubt that AUD/USD must surely be one of the most fascinating forex currency pairs for investors to be trading at present, with political and inflationary uncertainty allowing traders to take advantage of significant volatility in the market. There’s never been a better time to become a forex trader in Australia, with a number of reputable and regulated trading brokers to choose from, offering a plethora of deposit bonuses to give you more funds to trade with and even better leverage. You can get the latest Australian forex broker list from here.
Meanwhile, further east, NZD/USD was also forced down 0.16%, trading at lows of 0.7318 – its lowest point since mid-July.
This week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is reportedly considering keeping interest rates unmoved at 1.75%. Forex traders and investors alike will of course be keeping a keen eye on the overall tone of the central bank’s discussion with regards to any interest rate moves in the coming months.
RBNZ’s policy guidance regarding its OCR policy states: “Monetary policy will remain accommodative for a considerable period. Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly.”
