Investing.com – The Australian dollar was down against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, dropping to a four-month low as market sentiment was rattled following an S&P downgrade of U.S. government debt, curbing demand for higher-yielding assets.
AUD/USD hit 1.0301 during late Asian trade, the lowest since April 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0378, shedding 0.58%.
The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.0287, the low of April 5 and resistance at 1.0526, last Friday’s high.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S. sovereign debt rating by one notch to AA+ from AAA after markets closed Friday.
The ratings agency kept the U.S. rating outlook at negative, suggesting a further downgrade could be possible within the next 12 to 18 months.
S&P said the debt ceiling deal reached by lawmakers to cut the federal deficit by an estimated USD2.1 trillion over a decade did not go far enough and “America’s governance and policymaking is becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.”
Leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies said Sunday that they were ready to take every action necessary to stabilize financial markets.
"We are committed to taking coordinated action where needed, to ensuring liquidity, and to supporting financial market functioning, financial stability and economic growth," the G-7 said in a statement.
The Aussie was also lower against the yen, with AUD/JPY tumbling 1.52% to hit 80.70, the lowest since March 18.
Also Monday, a report by the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group said the total number of job advertisements in Australian newspapers and on the Internet fell 0.7% in July compared to June, after advancing by a revised 3.8% in the previous month.
AUD/USD hit 1.0301 during late Asian trade, the lowest since April 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0378, shedding 0.58%.
The pair was likely to find short-term support at 1.0287, the low of April 5 and resistance at 1.0526, last Friday’s high.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S. sovereign debt rating by one notch to AA+ from AAA after markets closed Friday.
The ratings agency kept the U.S. rating outlook at negative, suggesting a further downgrade could be possible within the next 12 to 18 months.
S&P said the debt ceiling deal reached by lawmakers to cut the federal deficit by an estimated USD2.1 trillion over a decade did not go far enough and “America’s governance and policymaking is becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.”
Leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies said Sunday that they were ready to take every action necessary to stabilize financial markets.
"We are committed to taking coordinated action where needed, to ensuring liquidity, and to supporting financial market functioning, financial stability and economic growth," the G-7 said in a statement.
The Aussie was also lower against the yen, with AUD/JPY tumbling 1.52% to hit 80.70, the lowest since March 18.
Also Monday, a report by the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group said the total number of job advertisements in Australian newspapers and on the Internet fell 0.7% in July compared to June, after advancing by a revised 3.8% in the previous month.