The Australian dollar gave up all the gains it was able to make yesterday and then some, falling on hawkish comments from Federal Reserve official Patrick Harker, as well as Susan Collins. Harker, from the Philadelphia Fed, said that rates must remain at current “restrictive” levels. Boston Fed Susan Collins stated that it is possible that there may be more rate hikes, sending jitters in the market in anticipation of the Jackson Hole symposium tomorrow in the U.S. Economic data out of the U.S. came in mixed with Durable Goods Orders in July falling significantly while the Labor market reported a smaller number of jobless claims than originally anticipated; 230k versus 239k expected. China will continue to be in the top of the headlines as data will be released next week, that will very likely point to a worsening economy. China’s PMI data next Thursday will likely point to a slowing in both the service and manufacturing sector.
Equity markets all closed lower with the Dow down over 1% and NASDAQ closing at almost 2% lower. S&P also closed lower by 1.35%.
