Australian Dollar hits five-month high after Australian election

Kenny Fisher MarketPulse

The Australian dollar continues to impress and has posted strong gains on Monday. European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6491, up 0.72% on the day and its highest level since early December 2025.

Albanese wins big in Australian election

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cruised to a resounding victory in Saturday's national election. Albanese' centre-left Labor Party increased its majority and thumped the Liberal Party opposition. The coalition's defeat was marked by its leader, Peter Dutton losing his own seat.

The long shadow of US President Donald Trump was a factor in the election. Dutton adopted right-wing policies such as promising tougher immigration laws and establishing a platform to reduce the waste of public funds. The similarities between Dutton and Trump the Liberal hurt the Liberal leader as many voters were upset with Trump's 10% tariffs on Australia.

At the start of the year, Albanese was trailing badly in the opinion polls. However, he struck a receptive chord among voters on domestic issues such as health care and housing, and benefited from the anti-Trump sentiment, which proved to be a winning recipe.

US Nonfarm Payrolls beats forecast

US nonfarm payrolls, a key gauge of the US labor market, dipped slightly to 177 thousand in April, down from a revised 185 thousand in March. This easily beat the market estimate of 130 thousand. The positive unemployment report points to a resilient labor market which remains strong despite the US economy declining in the first quarter.

The markets have responded by lowering the odds of a rate hike in June to 33%, down sharply from 60% a week ago, according to the CME's FedWatch. The Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday and is virtually certain to maintain the benchmark rate of 4.25%-4.5%.

AUD/USD technical

AUD/USD is testing resistance at 0.6484. Above, there is resistance at 0.6527.
There is support at 0.6427 and 0.6384.

Author

Kenny Fisher

MarketPulse

A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities.

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.