Financial markets are changing, and the Australian dollar is experiencing a historic dip

The Australian dollar is performing worse in international markets, but it’s difficult to tell why.

Transcript

00:00Well, if you thought today was going to be a boring day, think again.

00:05The Aussie dollar fell as low as 61.84 US cents this morning, its weakest level since

00:11the early days of COVID, for no obvious reason.

00:14So bad news if you're on an overseas holiday, but great if you run a business which sells

00:18goods overseas.

00:20But since then, it's recovered above 62 US cents, which is still a two-year low.

00:25So why is the Aussie dollar so weak lately?

00:28One reason is the US dollar, which has jumped to its highest level since November 2022.

00:34And in just 18 days, Donald Trump officially becomes president again.

00:39And his policies could result in US inflation remaining higher for longer.

00:43Policies like trade wars against China and other nations, clamping down on illegal immigration

00:49and slashing corporate tax, which would rack up larger deficits for America.

00:53And that'll probably lead to fewer interest rate cuts, which is boosting the appeal of

00:58the greenback at the expense of the Aussie dollar.

01:01The All Lords, meanwhile, rose by half a percent on this relatively quiet day, with most of

01:06the world's major share markets still closed.

01:09Mining and tech companies did well today, but health care stocks lagged behind.

01:14In commodities, gold and oil prices went up, but iron ore was flat.

01:19And finally, while Australia's median property price has fallen for the first time in two

01:23years, don't get your hopes too high, as house prices compared to our wages and disposable

01:28income are still near record highs.

01:31And with a federal election coming up, neither side wants to do anything too radical to fix

01:36the situation, despite their promises.

01:39And that's finance.