The Aussie dollar is mixed, stronger against the US dollar but weaker against a raft of other currencies including the Euro, CAD and Yen. The strength in the AUD against an imploding US currency has a few of the punters perplexed. At the end of the day the AUD remains a commodity based currency and if global events are to steer business towards Australia than there will be increased strength in the AUD over time as the Aussie economy takes advantage of initially the weaker AUD and also the increase in demand. This doesn’t discount the old say that when America sneezes Australia catches the flu, but it may help that the US is handing out tissues, directing business our way for some commodities. If only we had a domestic manufacturing business left.

In the grain world there’s a whole bunch of red on the screen this morning. Wheat’s in general were not too bad. The Chicago soft red winter wheat contract shed the most value in wheat and that was only 3.25c/bu nearby (AUD$1.88). Unfortunately the move in the AUD/USD is worth about -AUD$1.29/t too. Spring wheat futures at Minneapolis and HRWW futures at Chicago saw little change day to day. The AUD the only thing really having an impact on the day to day conversion here for those grades today. Soybeans were the big mover, down about 18c/bu nearby (AUD$10.45/t). This pushed new crop Winnipeg canola lower and also weighed on Paris rapeseed values which slipped 10.50/t in the €Feb26 slot. The AUD was weaker against the Euro, helping to buffer some of the decline in Paris rapeseed, turning what could have been a $15 – $20 decline to a day to day conversion decline of just AUD$3.14/t.

Cash wheat values around the world were mixed but generally AUD$2.00 to AUD$4.00 lower on the day to day conversion, mainly thanks to the AUD. French milling wheat did kick this trend though, the day to day conversion there showing a healthy but probably unsustainable increase in value.
The next step is seeing how long it takes the US to get Trumps plans through the senate.