The AUD/USD pair surges 1.2% to near 0.7060 in the Asian trading session on Wednesday. The Aussie pair strengthens as the Australian Dollar (AUD) outperforms its peers, following Iran’s acceptance of a temporary ceasefire with the United States (US), resulting in a significant improvement in investors’ risk appetite.
Australian Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Australian Dollar (AUD) against listed major currencies today. Australian Dollar was the strongest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.64% | -0.77% | -0.74% | -0.32% | -1.06% | -1.20% | -0.90% | |
| EUR | 0.64% | -0.14% | -0.09% | 0.31% | -0.43% | -0.59% | -0.27% | |
| GBP | 0.77% | 0.14% | 0.04% | 0.48% | -0.26% | -0.42% | -0.13% | |
| JPY | 0.74% | 0.09% | -0.04% | 0.41% | -0.30% | -0.46% | -0.16% | |
| CAD | 0.32% | -0.31% | -0.48% | -0.41% | -0.71% | -0.85% | -0.58% | |
| AUD | 1.06% | 0.43% | 0.26% | 0.30% | 0.71% | -0.16% | 0.13% | |
| NZD | 1.20% | 0.59% | 0.42% | 0.46% | 0.85% | 0.16% | 0.29% | |
| CHF | 0.90% | 0.27% | 0.13% | 0.16% | 0.58% | -0.13% | -0.29% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Australian Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent AUD (base)/USD (quote).
S&P 500 futures have rallied almost 2.5% in the Asian trade, reflecting an upbeat market mood. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is down over 0.5% at around 99.00.
Before the completion of the US President Donald Trump’s deadline of planned attacks on Iran, which was Tuesday, 08:00 PM ET, he announced, through a post on Truth.Social, that he is suspending attacks for two weeks, as Tehran has agreed to a “complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz”. Trump added, “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
On the monetary policy front, investors await the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes of the March policy meeting, which will be released on late Wednesday. In the policy meeting, the Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to leave interest rates unchanged in the range of 3.50%-3.75%.
AUD/USD technical analysis
AUD/USD trades higher at around 0.7060 as of writing. The pair has ecxtended its recovery above the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 0.6970, tilting the near-term bias modestly bullish after defending the late-March lows around 0.6850–0.6875. Price action shows a sequence of higher closes from the 0.6880 region, and the RSI pushing back above the 50 line confirms improving upside momentum rather than simple mean reversion around the average.
Initial support is now seen at 0.6970, where the 20-day EMA converges with recent minor congestion, followed by stronger support at 0.6925 and then 0.6880. On the topside, immediate resistance aligns at 0.7120, the late-March swing high, followed by 0.7150; a daily close above this band would open a continuation move toward the multi-year high in the 0.7200 area. A failure to hold above 0.7000 would weaken the current bullish bias and expose a deeper pullback toward 0.6925.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022.
Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates.
When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system.
It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.
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