THE Australian dollar has fallen to three year lows as investors dump risky assets in the wake of last week’s comments by US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
Bernanke confirmed what the market had already been guessing at; that the US is planning on scaling back its program of quantitate easing, possibly as early as September this year.
The Australian dollar immediately nose-dived on the news, falling 3.5 per cent against the US dollar.
The downward spiral was further compounded by weak manufacturing data from China’s Purchasing Manager’s Index. According to ForexCT’s Steven Dooley, “the Aussie dollar’s days of being over parity are done and dusted.”
On Friday, the Australian currency had fallen to its lowest point since September 2010. Easy Forex currency dealer Tony Darvell noted that the downward trend is likely to continue and that “the Australian dollar can easily get down to 85 or 80 US cent within six months.” Similarly, the British pound broke through the AUD 1.68 mark
The Australian dollar is expected to trade within a tighter range in the days ahead in anticipation of further economic data to from the US this week and from China and Australia next week.
By Jaco Herselman of 1st Contact Money Transfers
Exchange rates at 11:15GMT, 24 June 2013
GBP/AUD: 1.671
EUR/AUD : 1.453
USD/AUD : 1.087
NZD/AUD : 0.839
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.
