In The News Today! 5th March 2024
– Market Conditions and what to look out for this week
The Australian Dollar experienced a decline this week, becoming the second-worst performing G10 major currency. The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate rose by a third of a percent, reaching 1.9506, following Australia's monthly inflation print falling slightly below expectations.
The data, including the quarterly inflation figure, suggests that inflation is tracking at levels acceptable to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), they will look for further drops in inflation before taking action to cut interest rates.
Last week, the pressure was back on the AUD after Australian CPI printed lower than the expected, coming in at 3.4%, vs an expected 3.6%. Investors moved away from the AUD, dropping the rate 0.9% from 0.6546, to 0.6487 throughout Wednesday afternoon.
The RBNZ held interest rates steady at 5.5%, dropping the NZD against most majors. The tone from the central bank was soften than previous updates, pushing towards an end to the rate hike cycle, in line with most major central banks globally.
Chinese manufacturing PMI’s came in higher than expected on Friday afternoon, giving the AUD a well needed boost towards the end of the week. It was expected to print at 50.9, though came in above at 51.4. A welcome sign that gave riskier currencies globally a boost against the USD.
*Market update provided by our Travel Money Transfers partner SendFX Pty Ltd ACN 617 647 220 (‘Send’). Send holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (No. 509635) . The information on this website has been provided for general information purposes only and must not in any way be construed or relied upon as personal advice.
