Australian Dollar vs US Dollar Hesitates at 0.7150 as Iran Ship Seizures Spark Risk-Off Flows

The Australian Dollar vs US Dollar stalls around 0.7150, edging lower despite strong PMIs (Manufacturing 51.0 from 49.8, Services 50.3 from 46.3), as Iran seizes two ships and the US redirects three Iranian tankers, boosting USD safe-haven demand. The pair plunged 0.8% to a three-week low of 0.6520 on April 19 after Iran's rebuff of Trump’s peace talks, slipped further on April 21 with DXY surging to 104.85 amid US retail sales +1.7% MoM, then rallied 0.8% past 0.6650 on April 22's ceasefire extension. Escalating tensions now overshadow domestic data, eyeing downside to 0.7100-0.7050.