Australian Dollar Dips As RBA Minutes Signal Immediate Rate Cut
October 20 2020 - 12:27AM
RTTF2
The Australian dollar fell against its major counterparts in the
Asian session on Tuesday, after minutes from the Reserve Bank of
Australia's recent meeting showed that the Board discussed the
scope of additional monetary easing to support jobs and the
economy.
Members discussed the options of reducing the targets for the
cash rate and the 3-year yield towards zero, without going
negative, and buying government bonds further along the yield
curve, the minutes from the October 6 meeting showed.
As the economy opens up, members judged that further monetary
easing is likely to gain more traction than had been the case
earlier.
Given the higher level of uncertainty about inflation dynamics
in the current economic environment, the Board agreed to place more
weight on actual, not forecast, inflation in its decision-making,
the minutes said.
The Board agreed to maintain highly accommodative policy
settings as long as required and to continue to consider how
additional monetary easing could support jobs as the economy opens
up further, the minutes added.
Comments from Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor
Christopher Kent reiterating the likelihood of further policy
easing also weighed on the currency.
"They could all go a little lower than they currently are," Kent
told the IFR Australia DCM Roundtable webinar.
S&P Global Ratings retained the sovereign ratings of
Australia at 'AAA' with a negative outlook as the agency expects
the fiscal deficits to persist and debt levels to be elevated for
years to come.
The agency said the Covid-19 pandemic dealt Australia a severe
economic and fiscal shock, which has substantially deteriorated the
government's fiscal headroom at the 'AAA' rating level.
The aussie dropped to fresh 3-week lows of 0.7031 against the
greenback and 74.20 against the yen, from its early highs of 0.7070
and 74.53, respectively. The aussie is seen locating support around
0.68 against the greenback and 72.00 against the yen.
Reversing from its early highs of 1.6635 against the euro and
0.9326 against the loonie, the aussie fell to near a 5-month low of
1.6742 and near a 4-month low of 0.9280, respectively. On the
downside, 1.70 and 0.90 are possibly seen as its next support
levels against the euro and the loonie, respectively.
In contrast, the aussie strengthened to 1.0720 against the kiwi,
from a low of 1.0688 hit at 5:00 pm ET. The currency may face
resistance around the 1.09 region.
Looking ahead, U.S. building permits and housing starts for
September are set for release in the New York session.
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