Aussie Dollar dips on weak retail sales figures but recovers above 69 cents

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In short

  1. The Australian dollar fell after soft retail sales figures but remained above 69 cents
  2. It recovered against the British pound (GBP), Japanese Yen (JPY) and Euro (EUR) but stayed down against the NZ dollar (NZD)
  3. RBA unlikely to cut rates on Melbourne Cup on Tuesday

AUD to USD exchange rates

Time Open Low High
Today 0.6915
In the last week 0.6813 0.6929
In the last month 0.6714 0.6929

The Australian dollar was under fire early in the week as soft retail sales data sent it south.

Figures showed almost no growth in retail sales of 0.2% which was lower than the 0.4% from last month. While the result wasn't entirely unexpected, the AUD still fell.

The fall didn't last too long as the local currency rebounded against most major currencies with the exception of the New Zealand Dollar.

Looking ahead this week, the RBA will hold its second last meeting of 2019. Until recently, many economists had forecast an interest rate cut however in the past fortnight, the economic data has showed more positive signs.

This has meant that the market is no longer expecting the RBA to cut interest rates on Melbourne Cup Tuesday, but instead, wait until December of possibly even February.

The big questions is if the Australian dollar can hold onto it's recent gains and move above 70 cents or fall back to its 10-year low below 67 cents.

Up Next

Australian retail sales figures are followed but the RBA meeting Tuesday and trade data later in the week.
Overseas, the central bank in the UK is also meeting but no change is expected. Closer to home, New Zealand will release its employment data while Chinese trade data will be closely watched and could have an impact on the Australian dollar.
 

Country Day Event
Australia Monday Retail Sales figures
Australia Tuesday RBA meeting
New Zealand Wednesday Labour Force data
United Kingdom Thursday Bank of England meeting
China Friday Trade balance figures including imports and exports
Updated: Posted on