Aussie Shines Again as Rate Hike Inches Closer

AUD

The Australian Dollar was mixed to higher on news from Reserve Bank of Australia Governor, Glenn Stevens, who said that the Australian interest rates will most probably be raised sooner than previously thought.

The Aussie has been the star performer in the Forex Online as of late, buoyed by round after round of positive economic data out of Australia and now a sign that the economy is faring so much better than expected that a rate increase is in the works.

At 10:30PM GMT, the Australian Dollar was up .33% to the US Dollar to .8706, up .2% to the Euro to 1.6746, up .4% versus the Japanese Yen to 78.45, up .11% to the Canadian Dollar to .9449 and up .09% to the New Zealand Dollar to 1.2181.

EUR

The Euro fell after European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet, commented that he backed the argument for a strong US Dollar in the Forex market.

The Euro fall on Tuesday was amplified after ECB Governing Council member, Ewald Nowotny, affirmed Trichet’s comments.  The US Dollar is under scrutiny for being the world’s primary reserve currency while at the same time the US is the world’s largest debtor.

At 10:40PM GMT, the Euro was down .32% to the US Dollar to 1.4582, down .08% to the British Pound to .9139, up .02% to the Canadian Dollar to 1.5821 and off .13% to the Swiss Franc to 1.5114.