The Australian dollar declined against most other major currencies today. Both domestic macroeconomic data and the general risk-off market sentiment were dragging the currency down. The risk sentiment suffered due to renewed concerns about the Sino-US trade talks.
The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index dropped to 42.6 in September from 44.6 in the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis. A fall of the index while being below the neutral 50.0 level means that the industry was already contracting and accelerated the pace of contraction further. The report noted apartment building was the worst-performing sector last month.
While domestic data was unfavorable to the currency, it is likely that the general market sentiment had a bigger impact on the Aussie. At the start of the week, the traders’ focus was on the trade negotiations between the United States and China. The investors’ mood soured after the reports that the topics planned for discussion during the meeting of officials will be significantly narrowed. Nevertheless, there is hope that US President Donald Trump will accept a smaller-scale deal as a means to pave a way to a more significant agreement.
AUD/USD dropped from 0.6754 to 0.6738 as of 11:38 GMT today. EUR/AUD gained from 1.6249 to 1.6294, bouncing from the daily low of 1.6225. AUD/CHF slipped from 0.6710 to 0.6703.
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