The Aussie Dollar edged higher after an unexpectedly upbeat Q1 GDP report buoyed the commodity-linked currency. At the same time, investors’ expectations of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia seem to have been whittled back. GDP improved both on a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis, rising to 1.1% and 3.1%, respectively, against expectations of a rise to 0.8% and 2.8%. Currency analysts don’t expect the Aussie’s bounce to be long-lived, however, despite the strong growth figure and also foresee a rate cut later this summer.
As reported at 10:54 am (BST) in London, the AUD/USD was trading at $0.7259, a gain of 0.39%; the pair had hit a high of $0.7300 earlier in the session, and is moving away from last week’s multi-month trough set at $0.7145. Against the Japanese Yen, the AUD/JPY was lower at 79.5696 Yen, down 0.64%.
Yen Uplifted by Abe Announcement
The US Dollar dipped against the Japanese Yen, edging away from the 1-month high established earlier this week. The Yen is seeing some volatility after Shinzo Abe, the country’s Prime Minister, had earlier announced that the upcoming sales tax increase would be postponed. The USD/JPY pair is currently trading at 109.6650 Yen, down 0.97%; the pair has ranged from 109.5550 Yen to 110.8300 Yen in today’s trading session.