There were no surprises earlier today when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced that it would maintain cash rates at 2.5%. In addition to that, although the RBA mentioned that the aussie “remains high by historical standards”, the tone is softer than those in previous statements.
Aside from the RBA’s monetary policy statement, Australia also posted a 2.3% growth in its housing prices in March, in data released by RP Data. According to RP Data Research Director Tim Lawless, the RBA might be forced to raise rates sooner than expected if housing prices continue with its current pace of growth. At the moment, the market expects rate hikes to begin next year or in 2016. As for the RBA, today’s statement said that “the most prudent course is likely to be a period of stability in interest rates.”
Meanwhile in China, the HSBC Manufacturing PMI for March came out at 48.0, which was lower than the expected 48.1, and the previous month’s 48.5. This means that the country’s Manufacturing PMI has fallen for the past three months. The NBS Manufacturing PMI, however, told a different story. The official figure came out at 50.3, which was in line with expectations, and was slightly higher than the previous 50.2.
These events did little to affect the AUD/USD pair in today’s Asian trading session. It opened at 0.9268, and has hovered around that zone prior to the release of the monetary policy statement. It fell slightly after that, however, although it has so far been able to maintain figures higher than yesterday’s drop, which saw the pair hit the 0.9220 area. It is currently trading at 0.9262, with initial resistance seen at 0.9303, followed by 0.9327. Meanwhile, initial support is at 0.9241, followed by 0.9217.
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