AUD Surges Against Everything on Higher Inflation Numbers

The Australian dollar went up against all other major currencies today, as the consumer inflation reports showed higher values than the traders have expected, hinting more hawkish interest rate policy.


The Aussie rose against the US dollar, the yen and the euro today after the CPI data for the second quarter of 2011 were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The inflation was reported at 0.9 percent compared to 1.6 percent in Q1 2011. The economic strategists predicted only 0.7 percent CPI growth in Q2. The currency also rose against the New Zealand dollar.

With the higher inflation numbers, it’s now quite probable that the Reserve Bank of Australia will want to raise the interest rate (from 4.75 percent) at its meeting on August 2. If not at the next meeting, then it will definitely have to conduct more hawkish policy this year.

AUD/USD rose from 1.0956 to 1.1046 as of 11:09 GMT today. AUD/JPY increased from 85.37 to 85.96, while AUD/NZD went up from 1.2560 to 1.2627.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

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10:27 AM | 0 comments

AUD Fall with Stocks & Commodities on Concerns for Global Growth

The Australian dollar fell today, heading for the second weekly loss against the US dollar and the Japanese yen, as stocks and commodities declined on concerns that problems in the US and Europe will have negative impact on the global growth.


The MSCI Asia Pacific index of regional shares was little changed today, while it dropped 2 percent over this week, following three weeks of gains. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of commodities slipped 1.3 percent. Investors are betting that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut its key interest rate by 34 basis points over a year, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.

AUD/USD fell from 1.0723 to 1.0653 and AUD/JPY dropped dropped from 84.84 to 84.30 as of 10:17 GMT today.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

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9:38 AM | 0 comments

Australian Dollar Falls on Monetary Policy Minutes

The Australian dollar weakened today after the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy meeting indicated that there’ll be no increase of the interest rates in the near future.

The minutes explained the difficulties of the Australian economy, including the declining GDP and the ”soft” housing market, as well as influence of the foreign problems. The minutes said that “further tightening in monetary policy would be necessary at some point”. But the central bank’s policy makers remained rather dovish for the near future and concluded that “the flow of data over the past month had not added any urgency to the need for an adjustment to policy”.
EUR/AUD rose from 1.3513 to 1.3567 today as of 10:48 GMT after climbing to 1.3594. USD/AUD traded at 1.0579, near the opening rate of 1.0580, after falling to 1.0531.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

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7:59 AM | 0 comments