Australian Dollar slides on interest rate cut speculation

THE Australian Dollar started last week trading slightly higher compared to close of markets on Friday. This was due to the anticipation of a meeting held by European leaders where they were expected to discuss a possible bailout package for Greece. The Aussie Dollar was trading at 1.5322 to the British Pound and 0.9558 to the US Dollar.

Tuesday saw the Aussie Dollar trade near a two month high after equities rebounded globally on the speculation that the US will avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, which helped boost demand for higher-yielding assets.
But the Australian currency then declined against most of its major peers going into the end of the week amid speculation that the RBA would lower interest rates this week to shield the economy from a slowdown in mining.

The Australian Dollar finished the week trading at 1.537 to the British Pound and 0.9591 to the US Dollar.

The slide continued into the new week after data showed the nation’s retails sales unexpectedly stagnated, further fanning the interest rate cut speculation.

By Trevor Brewer of 1st Contact

Exchange rates at 08:00 GMT, 3 December 2012

GBP/AUD: 1.534
EURO/AUD: 1.244
USD/AUD: 0.958
NZD/AUD: 0.786

Note: The above exchange rates are based on “interbank” rates. If you want to transfer money to or from Australia then please register/login on our website, www.1stcontactforex.com, or call us on 0808 141 2335 for a live dealing rate. Make use of our Rate Notifier to send you alert when the Australian Dollar exchange rate reaches levels you are looking for.