Investing.com – The Aussie dollar gained ground against its U.S. rival during Tuesday’s Asian session following the release of monetary policy meeting minutes by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
In Asian trading Tuesday, AUD/USD rose 0.15% to 1.0323. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0250, the low of February 11 and resistance at 1.0325, the high of February 11.
Earlier in the session, RBA released minutes from its February 5 meeting. As was expected, the central bank left Australia’s overnight cash rate unchanged at 3%. That left plenty of traders and market participants forecasting RBA was merely putting another rate cut off until later this year.
However, the meeting minutes released today indicate the central bank may be taking a wait-and-see approach before pushing rates to a record low of 2.75%. The minutes show that RBA is waiting to see how previous rate cuts impact the Australian economy before paring rates again. Since late 2011, RBA has slashed interest rates by 175 basis points.
Traders focusing on Aussie dollar pairs will now turn their attention to Governor Glenn Steven’s testimony before a parliamentary committee on Friday.
In the meantime, the effects of the stronger Aussie are being felt in the domestic economy. Earlier today, packaging firm Amcor said it will cut 300 jobs, citing the stronger dollar and increasing cost pressures as the reasons behind the labor force reductions. The affected positions are in Queensland and Victoria.
Elsewhere, EUR/AUD fell 0.14% to 1.2938 while AUD/JPY gave up 0.09% to 96.77. AUD/NZD surged 0.52% to 1.2258.
In Asian trading Tuesday, AUD/USD rose 0.15% to 1.0323. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0250, the low of February 11 and resistance at 1.0325, the high of February 11.
Earlier in the session, RBA released minutes from its February 5 meeting. As was expected, the central bank left Australia’s overnight cash rate unchanged at 3%. That left plenty of traders and market participants forecasting RBA was merely putting another rate cut off until later this year.
However, the meeting minutes released today indicate the central bank may be taking a wait-and-see approach before pushing rates to a record low of 2.75%. The minutes show that RBA is waiting to see how previous rate cuts impact the Australian economy before paring rates again. Since late 2011, RBA has slashed interest rates by 175 basis points.
Traders focusing on Aussie dollar pairs will now turn their attention to Governor Glenn Steven’s testimony before a parliamentary committee on Friday.
In the meantime, the effects of the stronger Aussie are being felt in the domestic economy. Earlier today, packaging firm Amcor said it will cut 300 jobs, citing the stronger dollar and increasing cost pressures as the reasons behind the labor force reductions. The affected positions are in Queensland and Victoria.
Elsewhere, EUR/AUD fell 0.14% to 1.2938 while AUD/JPY gave up 0.09% to 96.77. AUD/NZD surged 0.52% to 1.2258.