AUD Drops as Trade Balance Deficit Unexpectedly High

The Australian dollar dropped today, trading near this year’s lows, as a government report showed that the nation’s trade balance deficit in March was bigger than estimated by specialists.
Australia’s trade balance registered a deficit of A$1.587 billion in March, compared to experts’ forecast of A$1.380 billion. The February shortage was revised from A$0.480 billion to A$0.754 billion. The poor data made traders afraid that Australia’s economic growth is losing steam.



The Aussie, together with other growth-related currencies, suffers from the ever-growing concern about the future of Europe. Greek parties were unable to reach agreement and for a new government after the weekend’s election. The political turmoil added to worries that the most-indebted country of the European Union may leave the eurozone. Fears rule the Forex market and commodity currencies are depressed.

AUD/USD fell from 1.0196 to 1.0102 as of 23:40 GMT today, reaching the low of 1.0088 intraday — the lowest level since December 29. AUD/JPY declined from 81.45 to 80.64, while the low of 80.44 hasn’t been seen since January 20. EUR/AUD was up from 1.2796 to 1.2862.

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