The Australian Dollar has weakened against the Pound and tumbled to a two-week low against the US Dollar as traders take a risk off approach ahead of the release of the minutes for the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting.
Wednesday’s session has seen traders ditch riskier assets in favour of the more stable and safe currencies such as the Japanese Yen, US Dollar and Sterling. The market has taken a risk off approach with traders looking for any excuse to offload the currency. In the ‘Aussie’s’ case traders are viewing the worsening radioactive leak at the Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan as another reason to sell.
According to the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, the power station which was heavily damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has leaked over 300 tonnes of highly contaminated water and has raised the danger level to a level-3 serious incident on the international scale used to measure nuclear incidents.
“News of radioactive water leaking from Fukushima placed downward pressure on the risk-sensitive Australian Dollar. Even aside from this, the Aussie was looking softer as investors expect upcoming Fed minutes could be supportive of the U.S. dollar if the rhetoric points towards a winding down of stimulus measures,” CMC Markets senior trader Tim Waterer said.
The ‘Aussie’ was also weighed down by the currency’s close relation to emerging Asian currencies which have been particularly badly exposed to capital flight as a result of the speculation that the US Federal Reserve will begin to taper its monetary policy in September.
Current Exchange Australian Dollar (AUD) Rates
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9012 <
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6729 <
The Australian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5752 <
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1096
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4859
The Pound Sterling /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.7384
The New Zealand Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8767
Correct as of 09:40 am GMT
Comments are closed.