Australian dollar rises over weekend

The Australian dollar has risen slightly over the weekend to 70.42 US cents, up from 70.22 US cents on Friday.

The Aussie dollar also trades at 62.67 euro cents, 54.20 British pence, $1.03 New Zealand dollars, 78.24 Japanese Yen, and 4.733 Chinese Renminbi.

Australian markets are also expected to be affected by Monday’s public holiday in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

CommSec chief economist Craig James says its no surprise that after the losses in the US, there would be similar declines in our own market on Monday.

“US investors are trying to mull up the state of the economy – job figures were much weaker than expected but the question is whether this is just a one off type development. And housing stats were much firmer than expected,” he told AAP.

“So that data was more mixed than anything.”

He said investors could expect Monday to be a little softer in terms of volume, and potentially, growth because of the public holiday.

He said because of that, no major economic data had been released.

But what everyone is waiting for is a development in the US-China trade dispute.

“Without new information, we are effectively in a holding pattern.”