At 6:30 AEST on Monday, the Australian Dollar to US Dollar (AUD/USD) exchange rate was trading at 0.7943 US dollars, up from 0.7911 on Friday.
Westpac senior market strategist Imre Speizer said the dollar had been impacted by “volatile” currency movements overseas following the release of US non-farm payroll data on Friday night and the ongoing impact of the unexpected result of the UK general election. He went on to say that the local currency “ended in New York little changed … with lots of payrolls-related volatility in between”. US non-farm payrolls rose 223,000 in April which was just short of market expectations, with the US unemployment rate of 5.4% matching expectations.
We may experience additional movement in favor of the Australian Dollar on Wednesday if the forecast for USD Advance Retail Sales plays out. The figure which currently sits at 0.9% is forecast to drop to 0.2%. USD Advance Retail Sales are considered a significant market mover, valuable for both its timeliness and insight into consumer demand and consumer confidence.
The Australian Dollar to US Dollar (AUD/USD) exchange rate is currently sitting at 0.7891 US dollars.
Greece hopeful of a positive statement from the Eurogroup Meeting.
In news out of the Euro zone, The Greek government will be looking to the meeting of Euro zone finance ministers held yesterday in Brussels for an indication of relief from their debt woes.
To date the group of Euro zone Finance Ministers has ruled out a deal to unlock aid for Greece at Monday’s meeting, saying that too many issues remain unresolved. Officials have said any statement they make is unlikely to be enough to allow the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise the limit on short-term Treasury bills that Greek banks can buy, a move that may help to avert a Greek national bankruptcy.
An un-named Greek Government official has said “we hope that the significant progress made will be recorded in the Eurogroup statement, which will be a positive sign regarding the prospect of reaching a final deal soon, what is important is to a signal for the funding strangulation to end.”
The divide between what Greece wants and what the Eurozone is prepared to offer seems likely to continue after the Eurogroup failed to come to a resolution. Greece have paid the EUR750 million debt installment to the EU 24 hours earlier than required, however sources are claiming there is only enough money left in Greek coffers to cover repayments until June or July at the latest.
Data coming out of the Eurozone this week includes German Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released on Wednesday, which is forecast to decline from 1.6% to 1.3%. This will be followed by Euro-Zone GDP forecast to increase from 0.9% to 1.0%.
The Australian Dollar to Euro (AUD/EUR) exchange rate was sitting at 0.7082 at close of trading on Monday night.