| Currency Round Up | |
The resources below contain current comment on trends in the value of the Australian dollar. Students should note some are prepared for the general public and some for the financial public. A good place to start figuring out trends in the exchange rate is with a current newspaper article.
Changes in domestic economic conditions may influence the exchange rate. Bursts in aggregate demand as well as changes in Australia's competitiveness all affect Australia's exports and imports and in turn the demand and supply of the AUD. A current statistical summary of economic performance is available in the Key National Economic Indicators section of the ABS web site. Students may also examine current ABS media releases on international trade and balance of payments statistics. The Parliamentary Library in Canberra maintains Monthly Social and Economic Indicators(MESI) and this contains a reasonable collection of economic statistics.
KNI See the link of the ABS homePage Key National Indicators
International Trade in the Themes section of the ABS web site. You need to select themes,Economy, International Trade, a current publication amd then read the summary.
The Parliamentary Libraries Monthly and Social Indicators Section also carries an excellent selection of current economic statistics.
Yahoo Australian Economy an excellent collection of current newspaper articles on the domestic economy.
Most major newspapers provide at least one article on the Australian Dollar. This is usually found in the Finance or Business section. Students must pay attention to the date and time when the newspaper articles were written. Commentator views on the exchange rate often change quickly and it is common for newspaper accounts of trends in the exchange to contradict each other.
Many online currency brokers and online financial news sites cover the Australian Dollar. These sites usually contain current exchange rates and provide daily forecasts and analysis of movements in the Australian Dollar.
Yahoo Finance Australia New Zealand This site contains a page of newspaper articles on recent trends in the Australian Dollar and links to comment on the global foreign exchange market.
Google News Australia A useful search engine and source of occaisonal comment on the dollar.
The Trading Room This is a business site run by Fairfax digital. It offers a daily round up of Australian dollar action. The AUD.
OzFourex An Australian online currency broker that offers daily comment on the AUD.
Many Australian banks analyse movements in the Australian Dollar in their economic commentary. Generally economic analysis made available to the public is in their news and information sections.
Many foreign online currency sites and news services offer some comment on the Australian dollar. Knowing what people overseas think about the trend in the Australian Dollar helps give you an idea of market expectations. Sometimes it also offers a different and interesting perspective on Australian reports on the dollar.
Bloomberg There is a wealth of information on the Bloomberg site however choose Regions > Australia Pacific for comment on the AUD.
FXStreet This site offers current quotes and a foreign exchange news service that usually contains articles on the Australian dollar. This site offers commercial currency trading services. The FX Analyst provides a daily currency round up that covers the worlds major currencies including the AUD. Students can also use the online chat facilities to chat with a FX broker.
Reuters Reuters offer occaisonal comment on the AUD however it is often hard to find. From the Home Page choose Investing and try the section on currencies and markets. Make sure you scroll down the page and look for regions or international markets. These sections sometimes carry articles on the AUD.
CNN International This site may not contain specific comment on the Australian dollar but their coverage of global economic issues usually pin points a range of current economic factors that may cause a change in the AUD.
BBC World | BBC Economy The BBC offers a great deal of current information on global economic developments that may affect the value of the AUD even though it may not comment on it specifically.
CBS Marketwatch.com This site provides excellent economic analaysis and comment on the US economy. Often key economic forces that will affect the USD and then the Australian dollar are reported here. It is a good place to identify global and US economic trends.
Oak Associates Dr ED Yardeni's Economic Network This site contains little actual comment on the AUD but is notable for the huge collection of charts and data series on the global economy. Dr Yardeni offers his presentations on commodity prices for example.
Morgan Stanley Global Economic Forum Offers comment on trends in the global economy and from time to time contains analysis of the AUD.
Many organisations provide daily, weekly, monthly and annual forecasts of the value of the AUD. Exchange rates are extremely difficult to predict however forecasts provide an indicator of what players in financial markets expect will happen to the AUD over time. Another source of information about market expectations are currency futures. These give you an idea of what foreign currency traders think will be the value of AUD in one to six months time. See INO site below. Please note currency futures and forward rate aggreements are not the same thing.
Fourex Predictions Daily Weekly Monthly
Neat Ideas.com Financial Foreasts for the AUD
Financial forecasts.com contains similar forecasts to neat ideas .com
ElliotWave International contains a series of forecasts of some significant variables that affect the Australian Dollar. Students should examine the articles in the free update section. There is usually a wrap up on global fincial indicators.
Treasury Forecasts are available from the Governments Budget site
Australian Banks including Westpac, The National and The ANZ often publish their currency forecasts in their economics, news and commentary sections. Sometimes students need to choose Business or Corporate News and Information in order to find the relevant resources.
INO.com Currency | INO Futures board This site offers current AUD futures quotes.
PCQUOTE.com This site also offers AUD /USD futures contract prices.
Differences in interest rates between countries can influence the value of the Australian Dollar. If interest rates and returns on assets generally are higher overseas, then many holders of Australian dollars may sell Australian dollars and purchase bank accounts and shares overseas where they can earn higher incomes. This may result in an increase the supply of the AUD and a fall in it's value. The reverse may occur where interest rates and asset returns are higher in Australia than overseas. The key interest rate in any country is set by the central bank. Differences between central bank interest rates reflect differences between interest rates generally in two countries. Links to the central banks of Australia, the US, Japan and England are listed below.
Reserve Bank of Australia The RBA publishes its cash target rate on its home page.
The US Federal Reserve This is the official site of the US Federal Reserve and Alan Greenspans comments and reports to congress can be accessed here.
Federal Funds Rate Interest rate set by the Fed for monetary policy purposes. A fuller listing of Federal rates is available at Fed's discount window.
The Bank of England: The Grand old lady of Threadneedle street. The UK prime rate is published on the bank's home page.
The BOJO The Bank of Japan The Official Discount Rate is accessible from the link on the Bank's Home Page.
The Australian dollar is often known as a commodity currency. When world demand for commodities rises, businesses overseas buy more of our commodity exports and this increases the demand for the Australian dollar and it appreciates. Commodities refers to products like mineral exports,metal exports and oil. Some economists argue that AUD is not a commodity currency and other factors such our current account deficit, interest rates and foreign debt are more important. This is a matter for the users judgement. The resources below are places where you can find out about developments and trends in commodity markets.
Yahoo Australia Commodities Yahoo provides current news articles on commodity markets relevant to Australia.
The Australian Bureau of Resource Economics ABARE makes short versions of its analysis of commodity prices and forecasts available online. See Australian Commodities
Reuters offers current commodity prices and sometimes articles on trends in commodity prices.
Bloomberg
Bloomberg in its market section contains articles on commodity markets.
CNN Money offers
a table of current commodity prices.
The value of the Australian is influenced by the rate of word economic growth. If the rest of the world grows quickly, they demand more Australian exports generating a demand for the dollar. This may under some circumstances cause the currency to appreciate. Their are a range of places where students can inspect growth rates and growth forecasts for other key economies and country groups.
The OECD The OECD provides summaries of its economic outlook statement and a flashfile containing growth forecasts for member countries and the OECD. Teachers may find it easier to download the flashfile and the pdf containing the summary of OECD econmic prospects and distribute these to students. The OECD also usually provides a simpler article on the economic outlook that is published in its OECD Observer magazine. The OECD maintains a directory of links to important economic data and comment for all its member economies. This is extremely useful for people looking for data on foreign economies. OECD Macroeconomic links. This directory is found in the Economics Department Section of the OECD site.
Whitehouse Economic Briefing Room Offers current statistics on the US economy.
The IMF The IMF produces its an analysis of global economic activity called the world economic outlook. Video's of presentations of its outlook statement may viewed online and secondly press releases containing major global growth forecasts are sometimes useful resources for students.
