The Australian dollar was soft against most of its major rivals today. The construction index, released over the trading session, logged an increase, but that hardly helped Australia’s currency.
The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index was at 43.0 in June, up from 40.4 in May. Being below the 50.0 level, the index was still indicating contraction of the sector, but at least with slower pace. The construction index was the only index reported by the AIG to log gains, whereas both manufacturing and service indices logged a decline.
The big event for the Aussie this week was the interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Yet the currency did not react in an expected manner, rising instead of falling. The next week will be less eventful, with the Westpac Consumer Sentiment being the only relatively important macroeconomic release in Australia.
AUD/USD tumbled from 0.7020 to 0.6973 as of 17:54 GMT today, reaching the low of 0.6957 intraday. EUR/AUD was up from 1.6066 to 1.6085. GBP/AUD gained from 1.7903 to 1.7948, rebounding from the daily low of 1.7858.
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