X Factor Down Under Is Currency Gain: Australia's Week in Charts
- Aussies paying more for iPhones highlights currency concern
- RBA board member talks down rate hikes to little market impact
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The resilience of the Australian dollar around the 80 U.S. cent mark, as a stellar jobs report overrode sagging sentiment indicators, highlighted the conundrum that had a central bank board member pouring scorn on speculation about interest-rate hikes.
A stronger currency may delay a lift in borrowing costs and markets remain consumed by concern that the currency Down Under is worth more than the country can cope with. Just this week in the release of Apple Inc.’s $1,000 iPhone X, Australian shoppers learned they’d have to pay a 25 percent premium to buy it in Sydney or Melbourne.