Australian Dollar Holds Gains

2026-01-21 01:55 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

The Australian dollar held its recent gains to around $0.673 on Wednesday, trading near a two-week high, as rising geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on the US dollar, while investors await upcoming local jobs data this week.

Forecasts point to a 30,000 rebound in December employment, after a surprise drop in November, with the unemployment rate expected to tick up slightly to 4.4%, in line with the RBA’s projections.

A weaker outcome would reduce near-term rate hike bets, while a stronger result, combined with Q4 inflation data, could shift the odds for a February move.

Markets currently price around a 30% chance of a 25bp increase by the Reserve Bank in February, rising to 76% by May.

Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure as investors continued to trim exposure in US markets amid concerns over rising tensions with Europe.

Trump threatened tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland, prompting concerns that European funds might offload US assets in retaliation.



News Stream
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