A$ Pressured By Weaker China/HK Equities, RBA Discussed Rate Hike

Aussie is weaker against the greenback during the APAC session so far today. It was trending lower before the RBA minutes were released and it bounced on the news that a rate hike had been discussed at the February meeting, and then again when China’s 5-year LPR was cut 25bp. AUDUSD has given up most of those gains now on weaker HK/China equities and US dollar strengthening and is now down 0.2% to 0.6529, close to the intraday low. The USD index is 0.1% higher.

• Aussie is off its low of 1.0625 against kiwi following the RBA minutes and is now trading around 1.0640. AUDJPY is range trading and is down 0.1% to 98.12. AUDEUR is down slightly to 0.6065 and AUDGBP is -0.1% to 0.5188.
• The RBA Board discussed leaving rates at 4.35% and a 25bp increase. The tightening bias was retained given that inflation was still high, costly and it would take time for it to feel confident inflation was returning to target, and there were still considerable uncertainties. It looks like the RBA is on hold for now.
• Equities are mixed with the ASX down 0.3% and CSI 300 -0.3% but the Nikkei is flat and TAIEX +0.5%. The S&P e-mini is down 0.3%. Oil prices are slightly lower with WTI around $78.36. Copper is down 0.8% and iron ore is around $125/t.
• Later the BoE’s Bailey appears. There are also January Canadian CPI data.