Talking Points:
- The Australian Dollar fell more than 0.4% versus the US Dollar
- Australia lost 5.1k jobs in September versus the +9.6k addition forecasted
- Both currency and government bond adjust to downgraded RBA rate cut expectations
Macroeconomic events affect currency valuations. Stay updated with major releases on our calendar
The Australian Dollar fell more than 0.4 percent against its US counterpart after September’s Employment data crossed the wires. Economists were expecting the country to add 9,600 jobs in September, Australia shed 5,100 positions. Most of the job losses came from the full-time figures (-13,900). Meanwhile, the country added 8,900 part-time jobs in September. Australia’s Participation rate fell to 64.9 percent from 65.0. Unemployment held steady at 6.2 percent – just off a 13-year high – as expected.
Last week, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained a data-dependent monetary policy outlook. As the disappointing news crossed the wires, Australian 2-year government bond yields declined more than 1.5 percent. With the central bank expected to cut rates at least once more over the next 12 months, today’s jobs report appeared to reinforce the belief that the RBA will do so sooner rather than later. Currency Strategist Ilya Spivak said that a soft jobs reading would weigh on the Aussie in his weekly forecast.
