Australia
Australian Official Cash Rate Held at 4.5% for Third Straight Time
August 3, 2010
Monetary officials left their policy steady, called the present stance “appropriate” in a newly released statement, and gave no hint about the timing or direction of the next possible rate change. Note was made that borrowing rates are now in line with their ten-year averages, and officials predicted near-trend growth and near-target inflation but warned [...] More
Dollar Depreciates Further
August 3, 2010
Dollar/yen broke below last week’s low to reach 85.775, which is less than a single yen away from the 14-year low touched in November 2009. The dollar also reached a three-month low against the euro of $1.3263. Net overnight declines in the dollar amount to 0.6% against the yen, 0.5% versus the euro, 0.4% relative [...] More
Weaker Aussie and New Zealand Dollars
July 28, 2010
The U.S. dollar advanced 1.0% and 0.7% against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts but was pretty steady otherwise. The Greenback dipped 0.3% against the loonie, 0.2% relative to the Swissy and yen, and 0.1% against the euro. The dollar rose 0.1% against sterling and is again unchanged versus the yuan. Stocks rose sharply overnight [...] More
A Shift in Focus from Euroland to the United States
July 2, 2010
A watered-down, more politically palatable proposed tax on Australian mining was announced by the new prime minister. The Aussie Dollar and kiwi are up 0.4% and 0.5% against their U.S. counterpart on relief that growth in Australia will not be damaged as much as feared previously. The Swiss franc retreated 0.5% against the dollar and [...] More
Risk Aversion Reigns as Investors Stay on Edge
June 24, 2010
Australian Prime Minister Rudd resigned. His popularity had melted after proposing a draconian tax on mining activity. Australian markets celebrated only briefly because the government remains in the Labour Party’s hands. Former Deputy PM Gillard becomes Australia’s first woman prime minister. The Fed’s statement yesterday acknowledged heightened external uncertainties. News from Iran provided another source [...] More
No Hint of When Australian Rate Increases Might Resume
June 1, 2010
The Reserve Bank of Australia left its Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 4.5%, matching analyst expectations. Officials had dropped many hints that policy is now on pause. There had previously been six rate hikes of 25 basis points each, starting last October and with follow-up moves in November, December, March, April and May. No central [...] More
Australian Interest Rate Preview
May 31, 2010
The minutes from the May Reserve Bank monetary policy meeting expressed concern about Europe’s sovereign debt crisis but more importantly signaled that interest rates are now “well placed,” meaning appropriate. Another pause in tightening is thus widely expected. From a low of 3.0%, the Official Cash Rate (OCR) was raised by 25 basis points each [...] More
Weaker Euro, Pound and Swiss Franc
May 13, 2010
The dollar has advanced 0.4% against sterling, 0.3% versus the Swissy, and 0.2% against the euro, but it has softened against commodity-sensitive currencies like the Aussie dollar (0.6%), kiwi (0.5%) and Canadian dollar (0.6%). Concerns persist that the EU rescue package will not prove adequate and about the impact of coming austerity. Britain’s new Conservative-led [...] More
Sixth Australian Rate Hike Likely Tuesday But Not Assured
May 3, 2010
In the case of the Reserve Bank of Australia, data trends tend to be a better guide than spoken words to monetary policy decision-making. The central bank cash rate was previously raised by 25 basis points each last October, November, December, March and April from a cyclical low of 3.0% to 4.25% currently. Rhetoric has [...] More
Australian Cash Rate Raised a Fifth Time
April 6, 2010
The Reserve Bank of Australia became the first central bank to lift interest rates five times since the world recession, engineering a 25-basis point increase for the the fifth time in the last six meetings and issuing a statement that called today’s decision one more step in a process of re-attaining normal rates insofar as [...] More
