The Australian dollar gained against the US dollar and the Japanese yen this week after several weeks of losses. The Aussie ended flat against the euro after a long stretch of weekly gains.
The Australian currency was rising for the most part of the week, supported by optimistic outlook for Europe and improving sentiment of Australian consumers. The Aussie (as the currency is often nicknamed) dropped by the end of the week as Australian employment unexpectedly dropped and fears of the European crisis returned to markets. Interestingly, the currency was down even against the euro even though the shared European currency was itself weakening amid worsening traders’ mood.
The Australian dollar was falling for two weeks versus the greenback and for three weeks against the yen before this week of gains. At the same time, the Aussie’s five-week rally against the euro stalled. The next week doesn’t look good for Australia’s dollar as a report is expected to show that inflation in Australia slowed. Yet these days Forex market dependent mostly on the situation in Europe and it’s hard to predict what news, good or bad, from the debt-plagued region the following week would bring.
AUD/USD climbed from 0.9987 to 1.0143 and AUD/JPY jumped from 76.16 to 79.43 this week. EUR/AUD fell from 1.2302 to 1.2224, but rebounded to 1.2307 by the end of the week.
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