Hi All,

As promised here’s a brief update on what’s been happening with the Aussie Dollar over the last week.

GBP/AUD slipped marginally lower last week after briefly spending some time above the 2.00 level, as the Aussie failed to fully capitalise on a broadly weaker Sterling.

Reaction was relatively muted after August policy meeting minutes showed Australia’s Central Bank said it would start to raise interest rates if the local economy continues to recover as forecast, and that further easing was unlikely given the economy had performed better than expected. However, the Reserve Bank of Australia said it was not clear whether the resilience in the economy was due to temporary fiscal stimulus and low rates. As such, the timing of the first rate hike would depend on the balance of risks of having a loose policy for too long against the danger of choking off any recovery.

The RBA left rates unchanged in August at 3.00%, although the markets are pricing in a hike as soon as November following recent hawkish comments.

In Australia this week, second quarter production data gears up with construction work done and capital expenditure releases on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

AUD Movement – High’s & Low’s of last week (17/08/09 – 21/08/09)

High’s: 2.0104
Low's: 1.9740

A movement of 1.84%

Difference on £200,000

High: 402,080 AUD
Low: 394,800 AUD

Difference of: 7,280 AUD.

Whilst FX isn't the most thrilling of subjects, the sooner you begin to think about your money transfers, the more likely you are to make your money go further.

Regards




Jon Sermon
HiFX