The Australian dollar advanced today after the Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes of its last monetary policy meeting, signaling that the domestic economic growth may offset the negative influence from outside of Australia.
The RBA has left its main interest rate at 3.5 percent in August 7. The central bank had a rather positive view on the Australian economy, though also mentioned some problems:
Members noted that the domestic economy appeared to be growing at around trend pace in the June quarter, though activity continued to vary significantly across industries. Resource investment, which continued to evolve broadly in line with the Bank’s forecasts, spurred activity in a number of industries, while the high Australian dollar and weak conditions in the housing market had weighed on activity in a number of non-resource industries.
The description of the foreign economies was less optimistic:
Members noted that escalating concerns regarding the fiscal and banking problems facing the euro area had weighed on confidence in many economies, and economic activity appeared to have slowed further in Europe. At the same time, growth in the United States and parts of Asia had slowed, while in China indicators generally pointed to growth stabilising. Financial markets remained volatile and the risks emanating from Europe continued to affect the outlook.
Hopes that the European leaders would sort out Europe’s problems added to traders’ optimism that bolstered the Aussie.
AUD/USD was up from 1.0442 to 1.0481 and AUD/JPY from 82.97 to 83.16 as of 3:37 GMT today. EUR/AUD slid from 1.1818 to 1.1780.
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