The Australian Dollar (AUD) underperformed over the week dipping to 0.6290 into Friday against the US Dollar (USD) as risk off flows dominated moves. The RBA raised their cash rate 0.25% to 2.85% Tuesday as widely planned with the central bank saying future rate increases will be determined by incoming data. The RBA’s outlook for global growth has deteriorated with just 1.5% in 2023 and 2024. Expectations of inflation for 2023 is around 4.75% from the current 7.3% if the RBA can manage monetary policy/rate hikes. The Federal Reserve raised rates three quarters of a percent as predicted to 4.00% Thursday with Powell saying he would consider slowing the pace of rises at the December meeting but the pace of the increases shouldn’t send a signal the Fed was done raising rates. The release sent the pair initially higher to 0.6490 before Powell’s speech reversed equity markets and the AUD back to 0.6340 within the hour. Looking ahead we have Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) tomorrow morning along with unemployment, we expect a similar rhetoric.
The current interbank midrate is: AUDUSD 0.6290
The interbank range this week has been: AUDUSD 0.6271- 0.6490