The Australian dollar advanced today after data showed that consumer prices were rising last month much faster than was expected. It suggests that the nation’s central bank has less incentive to ease its monetary policy further.
The Consumer Prices Index rose 1.2 percent in September, above the forecast of 0.8 percent growth. The increase followed the advance by 0.4 percent in August. The trimmed mean CPI was up 0.7 percent, matching expectations exactly.
The positive data means that the Reserve Bank of Australia will refrain from an interest rate cut in the near future as the economy performs well without additional stimulus. Coupled with expectations of extremely low interest rates in the United States for a prolonged period of time, it helps the Aussie to maintain its attractiveness for carry traders.
AUD/USD advanced from 0.9705 to 0.9739, reaching the strongest rate since June 4, and AUD/JPY climbed from 95.23 to 95.50 as of 00:50 GMT today. EUR/AUD slid from 1.4193 to 1.4146.
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