Australian dollar continues to climb

Financial and commodity markets analytics

The Australian dollar continued to climb today as better than expected GDP numbers gave the currency a further boost.

The Aussie dollar finished the day at US77.84c, up from US77.70c at close of trade on Thursday.

Data from Australia shoed that GDP grew 0.9% in the march quarter well above analysts’ expectations of a 0.6% rise giving the RBA more ammunition to hold off on cutting interest rates further in the nearest future.

 

"0.9 per cent was clearly appreciably better-than-expected," noted NAB foreign exchange strategist Ray Attrill​.

"It reinforces the view that the Reserve Bank will be sitting on its hands for a good few months basically." he added.

Although the currency finished up higher for the day, it did trade as high as US78.18c before pulling back after the market sat back and took a closer look at the numbers,

"The Australian economy expanded by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter, which was better than expected," noted BK Asset Management managing director Kathy Lien,

"However demand was weak with growth largely driven by inventory buildup and exports."

The market will now focus on tomorrow’s release of the latest import, export and trade balance figures from Australia with the local currency likely to come under pressure if the number fails to live up to expectations.