The Australian Dollar (also known as "Aussie" ) is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is denoted with a leading $, though in an international context the $ is often appended to an "A" or "AU" to distinguish the currency from other dollars. For example, within the nation of Australia $27 is read "twenty-seven dollars," while in an international context the same value might be written AU$27 and read "twenty-seven dollars, Australian".
The most active AUD trading hours are from Tokyo Open (7:00PM ET / 0:00 GMT), AUD Economic Releases (7:30AM ET / 0:30 GMT) and U.S. Economic Releases (8:30AM ET/ 13:30 GMT).
The chart below showcases the relationship between gold and AUD/USD. Australia happens to be one of the biggest producers of gold; therefore, gold prices have an impact on the pair.
Nickname – The only nickname for the Australian dollar is the Aussie which is a shortened version of the name.
Central Bank - The Reserve Bank of Australia conducts monetary policy meetings 11 times a year and their decisions on interest rates could have significant ramifications for the currency market. Glenn Stevens is the central bank governor for Australia. He assumed the post in 2006 and can serve up to 7 years.
Most Active Trading Hours – We tend to see the most significant volatility in the Australian dollar when Australian economic data is being released which is usually around the Tokyo open.
What Does the Economy Rely On? – Australia is a service sector economy but the country produces a tremendous amount of key commodities such as gold and copper. Therefore the Australian economy can be very sensitive to the moves in commodity prices.
Who Does the Economy Rely on for Trade? – Australia’s largest trading partners are in the Asia-Pac region. They do the most trade with Japan followed by China and South Korea.
Market Moving Economic Releases – Central bank rate decisions are usually the most market moving indicators, which mean that they can create the greatest volatility for any currency followed by the employment report, the consumer spending and inflation reports
The Australian Economy is comprised of 71.1% Services, 26.4% Industrial, and 2.5% Agriculture. It's largest trading partners are Japan, China, South Korea, US and New Zealand. Some other key facts about the Australian Economy:
|2008 GDP Estimate||(USD $1.069 Trillion)|
|Trade Balance***||AUD $2.1 Billion|