AUD/USD surges to near 0.6530 as RBA’s Hauser restrictive monetary policy stance
- AUD/USD soars to near 0.6530 as RBA’s Hauser argues in favour of maintaining a restrictive interest rate stance.
- Australia’s inflation grew at a faster pace of 1.3% in the third quarter of the year.
- US Senate approves funding to reopen government.
The AUD/USD pair jumps 0.56% to near 0.6530 during the European trading session on Monday. The Aussie pair strengthens as the Australian Dollar (AUD) outperforms its peers, following comments from Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser supporting the need to maintain a restrictive monetary policy stance.
Australian Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Australian Dollar (AUD) against listed major currencies today. Australian Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.00% | -0.08% | 0.48% | -0.10% | -0.55% | -0.16% | 0.10% | |
| EUR | -0.01% | -0.08% | 0.46% | -0.11% | -0.56% | -0.17% | 0.09% | |
| GBP | 0.08% | 0.08% | 0.57% | -0.02% | -0.48% | -0.09% | 0.17% | |
| JPY | -0.48% | -0.46% | -0.57% | -0.55% | -1.01% | -0.62% | -0.37% | |
| CAD | 0.10% | 0.11% | 0.02% | 0.55% | -0.46% | -0.07% | 0.20% | |
| AUD | 0.55% | 0.56% | 0.48% | 1.01% | 0.46% | 0.40% | 0.65% | |
| NZD | 0.16% | 0.17% | 0.09% | 0.62% | 0.07% | -0.40% | 0.26% | |
| CHF | -0.10% | -0.09% | -0.17% | 0.37% | -0.20% | -0.65% | -0.26% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Australian Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent AUD (base)/USD (quote).
“Achieving inflation goal will require policy to be restrictive enough to close output gap,” RBA Hauser said at a UBS conference in Sydney. He added that the economy continues to “run above its potential”, limiting room for “near-term rate cuts”.
Inflation in the Australian economy has remained higher in the third quarter of the year. In late October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the inflationary pressures rose at a faster pace of 1.3%, against 0.7% growth seen in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) trades calmly after the United States (US) Senate approved the stopgap bill that will fund the government till January. At the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades flat around 99.60.
During the day, eight Democratic lawmakers agreed to support the stopgap bill with Republicans in exchange for endorsing the extension of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which will be voted on in December.
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022. Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates. When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.
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