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Aussie jumps as RBA says rates could riseThe Australian dollar has had a busy week and is showing strong gains on Thursday. In the European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6550, up 0.50% at the time of writing. Two days after the Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate, Governor Bullock reinforced her hawkish stance on monetary policy. At the meeting, Bullock dropped a bombshell, saying she didn’t expect a rate cut for at least the next six months. Bullock said earlier today that the central bank wouldn’t hesitate to raise rates if needed, arguing that “the alternative of persistently high inflation is worse”. The RBA discussed the possibility of a rate hike at recent meetings and today Bullock said the RBA board had “explicitly considered” a rate hike at Tuesday’s meeting. The Australian dollar has responded with strong gains to Bullock’s hawkish remarks. At the Tuesday meeting, the central bank opted to maintain rates at the 12-year high of 4.35% for a seventh straight time. At a time when other major central banks have lowered rates and the mighty Federal Reserve is poised to make an initial cut in September, the RBA could well move in the opposite direction. The blame can be squarely put on inflation, which remains sticky, especially services prices. The RBA is projecting that CPI, which rose to 3.9% in the second quarter, won’t recede to 2-3% target until late 2025. The labor market continues to remain tight to the large-scale immigration, which will also make it difficult for the RBA to reduce rates. The financial markets are not marching to Bullock’s hawkish tune and widely expect a rate cut in December. The RBA has a poor track record with its forward guidance, particularly when it pledged in 2020 not to raise rates until 2023 and then hiked in May 2022. As well, the trend among central banks has been to lower rates and the RBA risks becoming an outlier if its raises rates. AUD/USD pushed above resistance at 0.6520 and tested resistance at 0.6559 earlier 0.6471 and 0.6432 are the next support levels
by fisherkj4
AUD/USD remains under pressure as RBA holds ratesThe Australian dollar gained ground earlier but has reversed directions and has edged lower. In the European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6778, down 0.24% at the time of writing. The Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate at 4.35% for a seventh straight time today. The markets had fully priced in this move and the Australian dollar’s reaction has been muted. At her press conference, RBA Governor Bullock said that policymakers had discussed the possibility of raising rates at today’s meeting. This has become a pattern for the RBA, which considered hiking rates in previous meetings but opted to hold rates each time. Bullock dropped a bombshell when she said that the central bank was unlikely to lower interest rates for at least six months due to inflation being too high. Bullock said that the markets were “a little bit ahead of themselves” in pricing rate cuts, but the markets still expect the Bank to start lowering rates before the end of the year. The RBA is currently forecasting that inflation, which rose to 3.8% in Q2, will not drop to the midpoint of the 1-3% target band until mid-2026. The RBA Governor noted the sudden meltdown in global stock markets, but said this development had not factored in to today’s rate decision. The rout stocks was a reaction to a soft US employment report on Friday, which has raised fears of a US recession. The Australian dollar wobbled on Monday, falling as much as 2.4% before recovering most of these losses. The S&P ASX 200 index, the country’s benchmark stock index, declined by 3.7% on Monday but has stabilized today. There is resistance at 0.6562 and 0.6627 0.6455 and 0.6390 are the next support levels
by OANDA
AUD/USD extends gains, employment report nextThe Australian dollar has extended this week's gains. In the North American session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6357, up 0.36%. Australia releases inflation on a quarterly basis, which magnifies the significance of each release. We'll get a look at third-quarter inflation on Wednesday, with a market consensus of 1.1% q/q, compared to 0.8% in Q2. Inflation is expected to fall to 5.3% y/y in Q3, down from 6.0% in the second quarter. Inflation eased in the second quarter, courtesy of a drop in fuel and food prices. The core inflation rate excludes energy and food prices but also declined in Q2 to 5.9% y/y, its lowest rate in a year. The drop in inflation is an encouraging sign and the Reserve Bank of Australia is hoping that the downtrend continues in the third quarter. Still, inflation is well above the RBA's target range of 2-3% and it will be a challenge for the central bank to bring inflation back to the target range. The RBA meets next on November 7th after holding rates for four straight months. What can we expect? Just two weeks ago, the rate odds for a quarter-point hike at the November meeting were just 3%, according to the ASX RBA rate tracker. That has ballooned to 21% currently, which means that while a fifth consecutive pause is likely, it is no longer considered a shoo-in. The RBA has been sending out a hawkish message, saying that the battle with inflation is far from over and further rate hikes remain on the table. Earlier today, Governor Bullock said the RBA "will not hesitate" to raise the cash rate over inflation fears. Despite the RBA's jawboning, the markets are leaning towards another pause, and provided that Wednesday's inflation report is not hotter than expected, it should cement a pause at the November meeting. AUD/USD has support at 0.6240 and 0.6184 0.6343 and 0.6399 are the next resistance lines
by fisherkj4
AUD/USD - Australian dollar jumps on sizzling jobs reportAustralia posted a blowout employment report today, giving the Australian dollar a strong boost. The economy created 53,000 new jobs in March, after a downwardly revised 63,600 a month earlier. This crushed the estimate of 20,000 and especially impressed as full-time employment increased by 72,000 (part-time decreased by 19,200). Unemployment was unchanged at 3.5%, below the forecast of 3.6%. What can we expect from the RBA? The central bank paused in March for the first time in the current rate-tightening cycle and Governor Lowe made clear that another pause was data-dependent. The next meeting is on May 2nd and the odds of a pause have eased to 78%, compared to 94% before the employment release. Australia releases the March inflation report less than a week prior to the meeting, and if inflation is higher than expected, the RBA will have to consider a 25-basis point increase in order to cool down the job market and inflation. The recent bank crisis, which roiled the global financial markets, appears to have eased. Still, the extent of the fallout of the collapse of four US banks and Credit Suisse is not yet clear, and central banks need to give consideration to the crisis in mind as they determine their rate path. RBA Deputy Governor Bullock addressed this issue on Wednesday, saying the RBA had considered a pause well before the bank crisis, and the bank decided on the non-move in order to protect job gains and to take into account lags in rate policy. Bullock maintained that there were no signs that the bank crisis had caused a tightening in financial conditions in Australia. There is resistance at 0.6897 and 0.6791 AUD/USD tested support below 0.6700 earlier today. The next support level is 0.6608
by OANDA