High Stakes: RBA rate decision vs. Melbourne Cup

  • The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to announce an interest rate decision with a 70% chance of a 25-basis point rate hike, driven by concerns about inflation.
  • Weaker U.S. Non-Farm Payroll figures have raised doubts about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tightening policy, influencing the AUD/USD exchange rate.

We are about 8 hours away from the latest Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decision. 

That decision is due on Tuesday at 2:30 pm (local Aussie time), a couple of hours before the country’s biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup ($8 million in prize money) is set to take place. 

But perhaps the more exciting match ups will be occurring in the forex market. 

Currently, the market is thinking there is a 70% chance of a 25-basis points hike because of the RBA governor’s rhetoric that the bank would “not hesitate to raise the cash rate further” if inflation was higher than expected (which it was in its last quarterly reading). The 30% chance of no hike is possibly driven by concerns about mortgage stress in the country after the post-COVID 12 cash rate increases. 

On the flip side of some potential AUD trades, we have expectations for the US Fed and the European Central Bank (ECB) enacting a 25-basis points cut by June next year. 

Weaker-than-expected NFP figures in the U.S. last Friday bolstered expectations that the Fed was done with its tightening campaign and pulled the AUD/USD up past 0.64900 from 0.64400. This makes me question whether the upside to the AUD/USD is all played out. Moments after the interest rate announcement will be crucial to see which direction the market wants to take. 

If the RBA does enact a hike today, concerns about mortgage stress in Australia might induce the pair to revisit some of the levels the pair traversed last Friday during its climb just before market close. 

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