The Aussie jumped as much as 3.6% to 0.6172 per greenback on Wednesday, sitting atop the ranking for peers in the Group of 10. That’s a marked change for the Australian currency, which ranks as the worst performer over the past month, still down more than 2% in the period.
The tariffs on China were already priced in for the Aussie, according to Helen Given, a trader at Monex. “It became clear over the last few days that China was the ‘end game’ here,” she said about US trade moves.
The Australian dollar had been hit hard by China’s retaliatory measures and can reach 0.63 per dollar by year-end, UBS Investment Bank strategists said in a note before the pause was announced and later confirmed the outlook. Their expectation of the Federal Reserve resuming rate cuts later in the year will weaken the greenback broadly, aiding the Aussie, they said.
