- US inflation expected to rise
- Australia releases employment data on Thursday
- AUD/USD is testing support at 0.6405. Below, there is support at 0.6330
- There is resistance at 0.6453 and 0.6528
The Australian dollar is lower on Wednesday. In the European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6408, down 0.28%.
US Consumer Inflation Expected to Increase
The US will release the August inflation report later today. CPI is projected to increase in August to 3.6% y/y, following a 3.2% gain in July. On a monthly basis, the consensus estimate stands at 0.6%, higher than the 0.2% gain in July. Core CPI is expected to fall from 4.7% to 4.3% and remain unchanged at 0.2% m/m. The Federal Reserve puts more emphasis on core inflation readings which are considered more reliable indicators of underlying inflation. A drop in the core rate would be welcomed by the Fed and would cement expectations for a pause at next week’s rate meeting. If however, inflation is stronger than expected, the Fed could respond with additional rate hikes in the coming months and that could mean stronger volatility for the US dollar.
The markets have widely priced in a rate pause, with a probability of 93% according to the FedWatch tool. After that, the Fed’s rate path is unclear, with the odds of a pause standing at 59%. The US labour market remains resilient, despite some cracks, and economic growth for the fourth quarter is expected to be strong. That could mean higher inflation for longer, which could complicate the Fed’s efforts to finish the battle against inflation and bring it back to the 2% target.
Thursday should be a busy day for the Aussie, with Australia releasing employment data and the US publishing retail sales numbers. Australia’s job growth is expected to rebound with a gain of 23,000 in August, after a decline of 14,600 in July. US retail sales are expected to fall in August by 0.2% m/m, down sharply from 0.7% a month earlier.