By: Barbara Zigah
With investors speculating that the Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to raise interest rates sooner than later given a higher inflation forecast, the Australian Dollar rose against the U.S. Dollar. As reported at 1:25 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Aussie traded at $1.0687 against the greenback, up from $1.0579 in New York trading. It also moved higher against the Japanese Yen, trading at 85.94 Yen, up from New York’s late trade of 84.72 Yen, when it had lost 2.2% and traded at the lowest point in more than a month. Markets are pricing in an intervention from the Bank of Japan given the Yen’s rise.
According to one strategist in Japan, the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement, issued earlier in the trading day, was more hawkish than the market had been expecting, helping to boost risk appetite. In the statement, the Australian central bank left their economic growth estimate unchanged from the February forecast at 4.25% for the remainder of the year. They expect consumer prices to rise higher than the previous 3% forecast to 3.25%, with core inflation expected to accelerate to 3% from the 2.75% forecast. The outlook also noted that further monetary policy tightening is likely in order to keep inflation consistent. The bank’s target inflation goal is 2 to 3% in the medium term.