The Australian dollar was stable against some of its rivals and rose versus the major European currencies today, getting some boost from positive macroeconomic reports released in Australia’s main trading partner, China, over the weekend.
China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 51.7 in August to 52.4 in September, exceeding market expectations of a drop to 51.5 and touching the highest level since April 2012. The private report from Markit showed a less rosy picture, posting an unexpected drop from 51.6 to 51.0, though the indicator was still showing expansion of the sector, just a slower one. Official non-manufacturing PMI climbed from 53.4 to 55.4 last month, reaching the strongest level since May 2014.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will make a policy decision tomorrow. It is expected to keep the main interest rate unchanged at 1.5%, and the accompanying statement is likely to show that the central bank is not going to change its monetary policy in the near future.
AUD/USD was at about 0.7834 as of 19:46 GMT today after opening at 0.7829 and touching the daily low of 0.7785. EUR/AUD dropped from 1.5045 to 1.4989. AUD/CHF gained from 0.7584 to 0.7633.
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