The Australian dollar was mixed today after the nation’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged, while the current account deficit narrowed.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark cash rate at 1.5% today, surprising no one. The central bank was fairly optimistic about economic growth, both domestic and global, though mentioned dangers of trade wars to global trade. The RBA stated:
Further progress in reducing unemployment and having inflation return to target is expected, although this progress is likely to be gradual.
The mention of “gradual” improvement reinforced the view that the bank is in no hurry to start raising borrowing costs.
Released separately by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the current account deficit shrank from A$12.1 billion to A$10.7 billion in the September quarter of this year. Nevertheless, the reading was worse than a deficit of A$10.2 billion predicted by economists.
AUD/USD edged up from 0.7357 to 0.7371 as of 13:45 GMT today, though retreated from the daily high of 0.7393. EUR/AUD was up from 1.5428 to 1.5446, rebounding from the daily low of 1.5403. AUD/JPY sank from 83.62 to 83.21.
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