At present the Australian dollar (AUD) converts as 10000.00 AUD into 6511.62 GBP.
After the Australian dollar pushed towards in 1.0585 December 2012, investors remained on the side-line and let the country slide to a new lower range around 1.0530. The bigger movements in the AUD were against the JPY which fell as a result of the election.
Compared to most of its counterparts, the pound has performed relatively well having recaptured the 1.62 level for the first time since October 2012. While most of the major currencies have sunk lower against the USD, the GBP bucked the trend and spent most of the European and North American sessions pushing higher. Again, in December the GB Pound was stronger against both the AUD (1.5350) and the NZD (1.9185).
In Europe, the ECB President, Mario Draghi talked in a speech about new powers of the ECB to oversee the regions banks. Draghi believes this should restore confidence in the sector and lead a revival of banks’ lending to each other. However, EUR/USD was held between 1.3145 and 1.3175.
The Australian Foreign Exchange
The Australian foreign exchange market is the seventh largest foreign exchange market in the world. The Australian and US dollar exchange rate pair is the fourth most traded currency pair in the global market.
The Australian Foreign Exchange Committee (AFXC) is a forum of the Australian foreign exchange market which operates under the sponsorship of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
The AFXC has evolved from the Foreign Exchange Market Consultative Group which the RBA formed in 1984 following the float of the Australian dollar in December 1983. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) licenses dealers within the Australian Foreign Exchange Market
Its objectives include providing a place for people involved in trading in the FX market to talk about current issues and offer development of best practice in the wholesale FX market. It also acts as a go-between for the Reserve Bank of Australia and the professional Foreign Exchange market. The AFXC also is there to develop and promote best practice risk management frameworks for anyone involved in the Foreign Exchange market. And lastly, it provides a forum to represent Australian interests in regional and global discussions.
The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours a day with normal trading starting from 5.00am Sydney time on Monday and closing 5.00pm New York time on Friday.
There is no daily exchange rate fix in the Australian market. The AFXC and Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA and ACI Australia announced in June 2008 a new methodology and time for calculating an Australian dollar reference rate. WM/Reuters provides market access to its reference rate for the AUD/USD rate at 10.00 am and 4.00 pm Sydney time each day. From 1 July 2008, the WM/Reuters Australian Fix 10.00am rate replaced the Hedge Settlement Rate which related back to when Australia had a non-deliverable market in the ‘70s and was published at 9.45 am. The 10.00 am and 4.00 pm rate is published on the electronic media and ACI Australia’s website.
