Aussie Outperforms, Tuesday’s Focus On RBA

After several sessions of underperforming, the Aussie outperformed the G10 on Monday and is currently trading around 0.6631. It reached an intraday high of 0.6668 before giving back much of the gains following the higher-than-expected US manufacturing ISM. The USD index finished 0.5% higher.

• AUDJPY has risen 1.1% to break through 91.00 and is currently around 91.16. Aussie is up 0.5% versus the kiwi to 1.0749. AUDEUR is 0.6% higher to 0.6402 and AUDGBP +0.8% to 0.5308.
• Most equity markets were closed on Monday but the S&P was flat following a deal for JP Morgan to take over the troubled First Republic. WTI oil prices fell 1.3% and are now trading around $75.70/bbl. Copper was up 1.2%.
• The main event today is the RBA meeting. It is generally expected to leave rates at 3.6% but some are expecting a hike and there are arguments for both pausing and increasing rates further. See the MNI RBA Preview – May 2023 here. Governor Lowe will speak at the RBA Board Dinner in Perth today at 2120 AEST. It can be listened to live at this link.