The Australian greenback is up 21 pips to 0.6913 in the present day, which is the very best since October 2024. The Aussie benefited from a robust jobs report on Friday and the market is starting to smell out fee hikes.
The money fee proper now’s 3.60% however the OIS curve costs that at round 4.30% by the top of the yr. For the quick future, there’s a better-than-even probability—roughly 63%—that the RBA will hike charges at their assembly in early February. Even when they do not transfer in February, the pricing suggests a fee rise is sort of assured to occur by March.
Trying additional out, the market has totally priced in a second fee improve by September. By the point December arrives, merchants are positioning for a probable third hike. Primarily, the market expects the price of borrowing to maintain rising slowly however certainly all yr and that is a robust distinction to the Fed, the place two cuts are priced in.
Immediately is Australia Day and markets are closed so AUD liquidity is thinned out. If Australian markets have been open, certainly gold miners can be celebrating because it’s up 1.7% to a file $5067. Silver is even hotter, up one other 4.8% to a file $107/oz. The mining trade is about to increase, with copper costs additionally close to file highs.
That may imply large mining funding inflows into Australia and different mining districts.
I additionally get the sense that the FX market is searching for protected havens exterior of US {dollars}. Usually meaning the yen however with political turmoil there and the specter of intervention and big authorities debt, the market is wanting elsewhere. Switzerland advantages from a few of these flows however low charges and the specter of destructive charges are a pointy distinction to 4% money returns in AUD.
In brief, there’s a lot working for AUD proper now and even at a 15-month excessive, AUD remains to be traditionally within the backside half of the 10-year vary.
AUD/USD 10 years
