The bottom just fell out of AUD/USD, as it fell nearly 100 pips to 0.8965. It’s the lowest since September 1.
It came after RBA Governor Stevens said Australia needs the Aussie dollar closer to 85-cents. Jawboning from Stevens is nothing new but he put a target on it and talking down a currency tends to work best when it’s working with the momentum.
What’s interesting is that there is actually a hawkish spin on the comments, where he says a weaker AUD is preferable to lower interest rates — that shows the RBA is reluctant to cut, which is actually good news for AUD.
The dollar is broadly strengthening in sympathy.
Australian jobs data released overnight was solid, with the economy gaining 10K jobs including 15.5K full-time positions. The unemployment rate ticked to 5.8% from 5.7%, as expected.
