John From Moneycorp Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 The week before last, investors all wanted Swiss francs and none wanted the Australian dollar. Last week those roles were (eventually) reversed and the Aussie was the world's best-performing major currency. It must have been the 4.75% interest rate that attracted them, because the economic statistics had little good to say about the Australian economy. The best figures of the week were an improvement in business confidence from 0 to 2 and an uptick in consumer confidence from -8.3 to a still-negative -3.5. Home loans were down by -4.4% in July and the employment numbers were a grave disappointment. The unemployment rate jumped from 4.9% to 5.1% and the number of people in work was almost unchanged, having been expected to rise by more than 10k. The weak employment data provided more evidence to support a minority view that the next move for AUD interest rates will be downwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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