Australia
Continuing Worries About Euro Area Sovereign Debt
November 15, 2010
The dollar has recovered another 0.5% against the euro and yen, 0.4% versus the Swiss franc and sterling, 0.2% against the kiwi and Canadian dollar, and 0.1% against the Chinese yuan. The Aussie dollar bucked this trend with a 0.1% uptick against the greenback. Stocks were mixed in the Pacific Rim. Equities climbed 1.1% in […] More
Australia’s Interest Rate Hike
November 2, 2010
The Policy Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia ended a six-month pause in its rate-rising campaign. Only about a quarter of analysts anticipated today’s seventh hike of the Official Cash Rate to 4.75% from 4.50%. A statement released today by the central bank calls today’s action “modest” and “prudent,” while also declaring that medium […] More
Reserve Bank of Australia Preview: Finely Balanced Decision
November 1, 2010
The RBA’s monthly interest rate decision will be revealed at 03:30 GMT on Tuesday. Whether the Official Cash Rate is kept steady at 4.5% or raised to 4.75% will probably be a closer choice than suggested by the 3:1 skewed bias of analyst forecasts. Six increases were spaced between October 2009 and May 2010. Some […] More
Australian Interest Rate Preview
October 4, 2010
The Reserve Bank’s October interest rate decision will be revealed at 03:30 GMT Tuesday. A majority, but not all, pundits project a 25-basis point Official Cash Rate increase to 4.75%. The last tightening was undertaken five months ago. It was the sixth rise since last October. When officials earlier had feared a recession, the OCR […] More
Dollar Falters in Wake of FOMC Statement
September 22, 2010
The dollar has lost 1.3% against the Australian dollar, 1.0% against the euro, 0.8% versus the Swiss franc, 0.7% relative to the Canadian dollar, 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.5% versus the yen and 0.3% relative to sterling. The yuan did not move overnight against the dollar. The German Dax and Paris Cac are 0.8% weaker […] More
Australian Monetary Policy Declared "Appropriate" and Left on Hold
September 7, 2010
As widely expected, Australia’s Official Cash Rate (OCR) was left at 4.5%. A statement from the Policy Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia observed that the terms of trade (export/import price ratio) is back at its 2008 high and buoying Australian incomes. The overall economy has been growing at a clip that is near […] More
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
