The minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting might have failed to provide much detail as to the Fed’s particular policy intentions but as they hinted at further tapering in the months ahead the ‘Aussie’ broadly softened during local trading.
The South Pacific asset slid for a third day against its US rival and lost ground against peers like the Euro.
However, the Australian Dollar went on to briefly recover losses thanks to impressive domestic retail sales figures.
Sales soared by 0.7 per cent in November, month-on-month, following a 0.5 per cent advance in October.
Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.4 per cent.
The unexpectedly positive result saw strategist Su-Lin Ong observe; ‘Retail sales surprised to the upside yet again. The odds are that sales finished 2013 on a firm note’.
But ‘Aussie’ gains were limited as a separate report showed that China’s consumer-price gains fell short of estimates.
Today the AUD/EUR exchange rate went on to decline further.
During European trading the Euro was boosted by encouraging confidence data for the Eurozone.
A measure of economic confidence for the currency block advanced from a negatively revised 98.4 to 100.0 rather than rising to 99.1 as expected.
The Eurozone’s business climate indicator and consumer confidence report were also positive, although the measure of industrial confidence failed to meet estimates.
The EUR/AUD pairing may experience additional movement following the European Central Bank’s rate decision.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 10:40 GMT
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3612 >
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8270 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5328 >
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6480 >
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4753 >
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7350 <
The Pound/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2092 <
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6514 <