AUD/MXN - Convert Compare Save

Australian Dollar (AUD)

In early August the Australian dollar sunk to a 10 year low of 67¢ (Aug-7) to the US dollar. This was due to the offshore yuan breaking the symbolic and closely watched USD/CNY = 7.0 exchange rate, after the trade war flared up again and the US labelled China a "currency manipulator".

Investors have sold AUD in recent months as they’ve bet on aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia. These bets paid off: the RBA cut its cash rate in both June and July to a record low of 1 percent.

Lower borrowing costs are necessary, investors believe, in light of persistently soft domestic data and the fallout from a US-China trade standoff that shows no sign of nearing an end.

AUD will continue to track changes in interest-rate expectations. Economists expect at least one further cut this year and many expect two by early 2020. After July's cut, the RBA hinted it would leave rates unchanged for several months.

Interestingly, AUD has decoupled from commodity prices in 2019. The price of iron ore (Australia’s largest export) nears multi-year highs while AUD languishes.

Further RBA interest rate cuts this year are now a certainty, and that doesn’t bode well for currency valuations. Westpac has predicted three cuts this year.

Read more in the article AUD Forecasts.

Mexican Peso (MXN)

At 18.8 per US dollar, the Mexican peso was trading on April-20 close to its strongest level in 6 ½ months, though it was meeting significant resistance (USD/MXN support) at 18.75—a level from which the peso was repelled twice last October, in March, and once already in April.

Boosting the peso has been the thriving oil market. Oil is high on the list of Mexico’s top exports and by April-20 it was up 44 percent for the year to $65 per barrel.

Also supporting the peso has been the dovish turn by the Federal Reserve. With no increase in US interest rates projected this year, the dollar will weaken and the peso should gain value because Mexico holds high levels of dollar-denominated debt, which becomes easier to repay when dollars are cheap and US rates are low.

Earlier this year, ING said that the peso would be among 2019’s best performing emerging market currencies, though newly-formed BlueLine Asset Management said one if its first market bets would be on peso depreciation based on disappointing economic growth.

The mid-rate is the rate you will see quoted online or the news. It is actually just the half-way point (hence mid-rate) between the last rate at which the AUD / MXN was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.

All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate). Some providers such as Transferwise will quote you the mid-rate (or close to) and charge a separate percentage fee.