Australian dollar buoyed by rising business and consumer confidence
Philip McHugh March 15th 2021 - < 1 minute read
Improved Australian business and consumer confidence indexes helped to give the Australian dollar a leg up against its rivals last week.
As both the NAB business confidence and Westpac consumer confidence indexes bettered expectations, this offered AUD exchange rates a boost.
However, the New Zealand dollar found itself on a generally weaker footing thanks to March’s ANZ business confidence index unexpectedly dropping from 7 to 0.
A softer food inflation reading also put pressure on NZD exchange rates, especially as market risk appetite generally weakened in the face of the resilient US dollar.
Nevertheless, the New Zealand dollar could find a rallying point on Wednesday if the fourth quarter GDP shows positive growth on the quarter.
Demand for the Australian dollar may also strengthen if February’s unemployment rate falls from 6.4% to 6.3% as forecast.
Evidence of a strengthening labour market could encourage greater optimism in the resilience of the Australian economy, leaving AUD exchange rates on a stronger footing.
Written by
Philip McHugh