By Oliver Gray
Investing.com – The Australian Dollar declined 0.11% during Monday trade to fresh 7-month lows of 0.73846 as market participants retreated amid worsening coronavirus infection rates across the country. New South Wales recorded 98 fresh COVID-19 cases after shutting down non-essential retail and building sites on Sunday, while Victoria reported 16 cases as health authorities extended lockdown restrictions in the region.
Risk sentiment was further dampened ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July meeting minutes tomorrow, on speculation that policymakers may delay a planned tapering of asset purchases in September, as prolonged lockdowns threaten to damage Australia’s economic recovery.
On the bond markets, Australian 10-year bond yields fell to 5-month lows of 1.241% while US 10-year bonds yielded 1.279%.
Traders will also be looking ahead to preliminary retail sales and PMI data due to be released later in the week.