AUD/NOK - Convert Compare Save

Australian Dollar (AUD)

In mid-June, the Australian dollar slumped to multi-month lows against SGD, CAD, JPY, CHF, USD and EUR. At US68.7¢, the benchmark Aussie rate, AUD/USD, was 16 percent below its highest rate from 2018.

Investors are selling AUD as they bet on aggressive interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia. These cuts will be 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, or even easing.

The RBA is likely to cut interest rates in July, as it did in June (the first cut in 3 years), and will probably cut again later this year. Although this bodes poorly for the Aussie, it won’t be the only currency this year to be hit by easier central bank policies, and that should keep depreciation at reasonable levels.

Interestingly, AUD has, for now at least, decoupled from commodity prices. The price of iron ore (Australia’s largest export) is at multi-year highs while AUD languishes.

Read more in the article AUD Forecasts.

Norwegian Krone (NOK)

In the second half of April, the Norwegian krone rallied to a 5-month high against the euro, at Kr9.56, and was strong against other major currencies. Strength was fuelled by a thriving oil market. Oil, Norway’s largest export, was up 44 percent on the year by April-20, to $65 per barrel. Also boosting the krone in April were better-than-expected inflation figures — inflation is now 2.9 percent, more than double that in the Euro Area (1.4 percent).

As expected, Norway's central bank raised interest rates to 1 percent in March. Tighter Norwegian monetary policy throughout 2019 would support the krone, especially if the ECB fails to raise rates.

Earlier this year, Lloyds predicted EUR/NOK at 9.4 at year-end. That level represents a major resistance point for the krone; EUR/NOK hasn’t broken below 9.4 since October 2017.

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 / NOK 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.