A late-Monday dip in the Australian dollar has left the currency near US$0.70 as investors look to this week's U.S. rate announcement and Australia's September inflation report for signals ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's November decision.
FXStreet reported the pair at US$0.7016, down 0.26%, at 6:48 p.m. ET Monday (22:48 UTC). The RBA's exchange-rate display separately recorded US$0.7031 at 1 a.m. ET that day (5 a.m. UTC). The two readings reflect different times and should not be read as an official daily close.
U.S. stocks ended higher, The Associated Press reported, with the S&P 500 up 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite up 0.8%. Reuters reported Brent crude settled 0.8% lower at US$115.81 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.46% to US$101.76. Reuters linked the oil decline in part to hopes for easing Middle East hostilities.
Ray Attrill, National Australia Bank's head of foreign-exchange strategy, told Reuters the U.S. bond market appeared to be driving broader dollar performance.
The latest Australian inflation data, for August, put year-over-year consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 4.0% and trimmed-mean inflation at 3.6%, both above the RBA's 2% to 3% objective. Trimmed-mean inflation rose 0.2% between July and August. The upcoming September release is the next official reading before the board's Nov. 3 decision. EconoTimes previously examined the Australian dollar's level near US$0.70 as the RBA flagged inflation risks.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has set the September CPI release for 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 27 (00:30 UTC Oct. 28). The Federal Open Market Committee, which meets Oct. 27-28, is due to issue its decision at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 28 (18:00 UTC), with a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. Reserve Bank of Australia Gov. Michele Bullock is scheduled to appear before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee at 8:15 p.m. ET Tuesday (00:15 UTC Wednesday).
The RBA's cash-rate target is 4.60%, and its next policy update is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET Nov. 2 (03:30 UTC Nov. 3).
