Australian dollar surges after greenback is hit by weak US GDP

The Aussie dollar has jumped against the greenback after weaker-than-expected US economic growth.

The Australian dollar has jumped against the greenback after figures showed weaker-than-expected US economic growth.

At 7am (AEST), the local unit was trading at US75.96 cents, up sharply from US75.08 cents on Friday.

Westpac senior market strategist Imre Speizer said official figures at the end of last week showed that US gross domestic product rose only 1.2 per cent in the June quarter, far below market expectations of a 2.5 per cent rise, dragging on the US dollar.

“The US dollar has been hurt by fading Fed (Federal Reserve) tightening expectations, thanks to the weak US GDP data,” he said in a note.

Mr Speizer said the main risk events for the local currency today would be the release of China’s official July purchasing managers indexes for both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

AAP