US growth surprises to the upside
The US dollar rose to its highest level since late July after the S&P Global flash US composite PMI jumped to 58.4 in September, its strongest reading in more than five years.
The stronger-than-expected data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve may need to deliver further rate hikes, lifting US Treasury yields and the greenback against all major currencies.
Aussie falls ahead of jobs data
AUD/USD was the weakest-performing major currency, falling 1.1%, while NZD/USD lost 0.9%.
Attention now turns to today’s Australian labour force report.
While the consensus forecast is still around 20k, forecasts remain unusually wide (from +10k to +47k according to Bloomberg) underscoring uncertainty around the pace of the labour market’s rebound.
In Asia, USD/JPY climbed to a three-week high, while USD/CNH rose 0.2% and USD/SGD gained 0.4%.
Euro and sterling remain under pressure
EUR/USD fell below 1.1400 and touched its lowest level since late July as rising US yields continued to favour the greenback.
GBP/USD fell 0.8%, its largest one-day decline since June, extending its recent run of losses as investors continued to favour the US dollar.
However, the euro and GBP outperformed the Australian dollar causing AUD/EUR and AUD/GBP to both reverse from recent highs.
Aussie hit hardest as USD gains
Table: seven-day rolling currency trends and trading ranges
Key global risk events
Calendar: 21 to 26 September
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*The FX rates published are provided by Convera’s Market Insights team for research purposes only. The rates have a unique source and may not align to any live exchange rates quoted on other sites. They are not an indication of actual buy/sell rates, or a financial offer.
