Overnight the Euro to AUD exchange rate advanced as the Australian Dollar softened in response to disappointing domestic data.
Although the currency had recorded fresh 2014 highs against peers like the US Dollar as local trading began, the ‘Aussie’ posted declines against several of its most traded rivals as the NAB measure of business confidence dropped from 7.3 in February to 4.1 in March.
The NAB gauge of business conditions rose from -0.1 to 0.7 last month.
Business confidence in the South Pacific nation is now at its lowest point since last September.
According to NAB economist Alan Oster; ‘It appears as though firms are responding to the ongoing sluggishness in business activity, which has not quite reflected the exuberance of firms in past months. The stubbornly high Australian Dollar, uncertainty over the global economy and the potential for significant ‘belt tightening’ in the upcoming budget, could all have contributed as well.’
Meanwhile, the Euro was holding steady following the release of French trade data.
A report published by the Bank of France also showed that business sentiment rose from 98 to 99 in March.
The common currency did drift lower against the Pound ahead of the release of UK manufacturing and industrial output figures but largely held gains against the US Dollar.
Further movement in the Euro to Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD) pairing may be limited today but fluctuations could occur overnight as a result of Australia’s Westpac Consumer Confidence index and home loans figures.
During Australasian trading the Euro put in a less impressive performance against the New Zealand Dollar, leaving the Euro to NZD exchange rate at 1.5897.
The ‘Kiwi’ put in a fairly solid performance against its major counterparts as the domestic NZIER business opinion survey came in at 52 for the first quarter, down slightly from a positively revised 53 in the first quarter.
While today’s UK news is of interest, market movement may also be occasioned by today’s Fed official speeches.
Investors will also be looking ahead to tomorrow’s German trade data.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3752,
Euro,,British Pound,0.8268,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.4752,
Euro,,New Zealand Dollar,1.5897,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.5061,
[/table]
