Aussie trends weaker on hostages incident in Sydney

The Australian dollar holds steady against its US counterpart on Monday after dropping earlier on reports of a hostage incident in a café in Sydney, Australia.

This hostage-taking incident pushed the Australian dollar lower, taking place in Martin Place area, one of the most dynamic places in Sydney and sparked panic in financial markets. Martin Place area is close to the Reserve Bank of Australia that was closed off by armed police.

The Australian police moved immediately after the incident and cordoned off the café, while a black and white flag similar to those used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was also visible.

On the other hand, the Australian dollar retreated today on governmental expectations of higher unemployment rate during 2015.

Aussie is expected to remain volatile till the end of the hostage crisis and what would result from it.

The Australian dollar dropped 0.44% against its US counterpart after the hostage incident to 0.8210, and traded at 09:00 GMT around 0.8252.