Weekly Roundup: Australian dollar slumps as jobless rate rises 

The Australian dollar got off to a poor start last week. A gloomy mood and dovish meeting minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) both weighed on the ‘Aussie’. 

AUD then faced sharper selling pressure after Australia’s jobless rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7% in July, worse than the forecast 3.6%. This suggests a cooling labour market, which saw traders slash bets on more RBA rate hikes. 

The ‘Aussie’ dollar hit multi-year lows against some of its peers. It managed to recover somewhat by Friday but remained firmly down on the week. 

So far this week, AUD is attempting to make a tentative recovery. Markets are cautiously upbeat after China cut interest rates in an effort to boost growth. 

Aside from risk appetite, Australia’s PMIs could impact the ‘Aussie’ this week. If the country’s private sector remained in contractionary territory this month, AUD could weaken.