Australian dollar collapses overnight to lowest level in almost a decade
The Australian dollar touches one of its lowest levels since 2009 in overnight trading, sparked by Apple’s share drop
The currency chaos comes after Apple’s Q1 forecasts warned of a slowdown in China, causing Apple shares to tumble along with shares of suppliers, Skyworks Solutions Inc. and Broadcom Inc.
Currency markets have struggled to recover on Thursday after volatility overnight saw Apples shares drop 7.5% when the technology giant cut its forecasts for Q1.
S&P 500 futures fell 1.5% and US stock index futures tumbled were dragged down in response, as fears of a global economic slowdown were heightened after the cut in revenue.
Apple's warning on sales in China sparked the collapse of the Australian dollar, touching one of the lowest levels since 2009 overnight.
On Thursday the AUD/USDstruggled to climb back above 0.700 sitting just under at 0.6900. The Australian dollar hasn’t fallen below 0.700 since 2016.
Analysts say while the Apple forecast trim sparked the crash, the Australian dollar had already begun to fall on Wednesday’s day trade after weak Caixin Chinese data.
The Apple forecasts dragged down US Tech 100 index by 2.26% and Wall Street wasn't far behind, down 1.33% .
The Yen jumped to the highest level since March in early Asian trading on Thursday triggered by the Australian dollar’s loss.
Australian export stocks jump
While theAUD/USD struggled to reach above its 0.700 on Thursday, the sharp fall sparked the buying of export-oriented stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 index climbed 73.8 points.
Mining stocks and gold surged in response, with Pilbara Minerals Limited the top gainer among miners, climbing 14.4%.
Gold producers Newcrest Mining Ltd and Evolution Mining Ltd rose 2.5% and 1.8%
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