Currency rates (added every week or two).

[DELTAprime]

I see the AUD is back up to 0.60 USD.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

So is that because of the AUD getting stronger, or the USD getting weaker? We seem to be up against the Yen too, but I'm not sure what's happening across all 3 right now. Everything's a bit Information Overload atm.

[griffin]

Our currency probably won't strengthen against the major currencies, as we rely too much on our imports, and exports... we don't have enough domestic manufacturing left to cover our basic necessities in the long term. Even if we are one of the first countries to eliminate the virus and have everyone go back to work, Australia won't be able to generate the revenue we need to pay off the debt generated from all of the government money splashed out on businesses and workers, because our four biggest exports will be heavily impacted.
Tourism and Education (foreign students) can't restart while the borders remain closed (until there is a vaccine or cure), while the demand for our coal and iron ore (for construction, manufacturing and energy) will be significantly less if every other country is suffering from a recession or long term depression.

Most of the currency rates dipped mid-March from the shock of the virus impact and the uncertainty or mixed-messages from certain politicians, but have then bounced back in the last few weeks, so that most are now close to what they were at the beginning of March.
We actually got close to parity with the NZ$ in mid March... I don't recall us ever getting below parity with them, which says something about the weakness of our economy at the moment if the AU$ could almost be worse than New Zealand's.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6336 (down 2 cents since early March)
- GB£ - 0.5079 (close to what it was in early March)
- JP¥ - 68.375 (down 2 yen since early March)
- EU€ - 0.5793 (down 2 cents since early March)
- NZ$ - 1.0444 (close to what it was in early March)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

A month ago our future economic (and therefore currency) prospects looked pretty bleak, but since then, we've seen America, the UK and Japan all struggling to combat the spread of the virus, which will draw out the negative impact on their economies. Some are trying to open up their countries again, at the same time as us, but the difference will be the human cost limiting what can be operating, as well as the financial cost of treating large numbers of people for several months. And maybe that difference is what has investors looking to our economy (and currency) as a better chance of getting a financial return on their investments in the near future, than the bigger economies in the world.
(or the recent rise of the AU$ could just be a re-correction of the rapid drop in value in early March, which had the AU$ at 55 US cents, compared to 65 cents six weeks later)

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6521 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5257 (up 2 pence in last 4 weeks)
- JP¥ - 69.543 (up 1 yen in last 4 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.5994 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0625 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

It's good to see that the Aussie dollar isn't doing a rollercoaster ride of up and down... at least for a little while so far. It seems that it is slowly strengthening against the majors, except the Euro dollar, which is still fairly close to what it was earlier this month.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6563 (up slightly in last 2 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5381 (up 1 pence in last 2 weeks)
- JP¥ - 70.704 (up 1 yen in last 2 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.5982 (down slightly in last 2 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0733 (up 1 cent in last 2 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[Unicran]

Aussie dollar against US dollar today peaked just shy of 0.70 before lowering slightly to @ 0.69.

Oh btw, we're heading into a (technical) recession...

[griffin]

The last month since the last posting, the AU$ climbed to almost 70 US cents a couple weeks ago, but just keeps bumping its head on that invisible ceiling. Hopefully the credit rating of AAA for Australia, as one of only 10 countries currently at that highest rating, helps push the dollar up a little more for us toy collectors (but not too much to hurt exports for a struggling economy).
Remembering that in mid March, the AU$ suddenly dropped to 55 US cents, but is now back up to it's pre-virus rates... and if it manages to break through 70 US cents, it will be at its highest since this time last year (it was at about 70.6 US cents in June 2019, and hasn't been above that rate in the 12 months since then).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6864 (up 3 cents from last month)
- GB£ - 0.5527 (up 1.5 pence from last month)
- JP¥ - 73.492 (up 3 yen from last month)
- EU€ - 0.6100 (up 1 cent from last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0701 (slightly down from last month)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)