The Australian dollar was under pressure today from the wage inflation miss. News from China did not do the currency any favors either.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the Wage Price Index rose 0.5% in the March quarter from the previous three months, the same as in the December quarter. Economists had promised a bit bigger inflation of 0.6%.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment rose 0.6% in May. That is compared to the 1.9% increase in April.
Released yesterday by National Australia Bank, the business confidence index edged up slightly from -1 to 0 in April. At the same time, the business conditions index declined from +7 to +4.
While the negative macroeconomic data played its part in the decline of the Aussie, bad economic reports in China and the negative developments in the US-China trade negotiations was likely the major reason for the currency’s decline.
AUD/USD dropped from 0.6942 to 0.6922 as of 13:47 GMT today. EUR/AUD was up from 1.6130 to 1.6204 intraday but pulled back to 1.6158 later. AUD/JPY declined from 76.08 to 75.69.
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