On Tuesday, the Australian dollar against the US dollar returned to growth. The current AUDUSD quote is 0.6690.
Retail sales in Australia in February grew by 0.2% m/m as expected after growing previously by 1.8%. The index look neutral after sharp fluctuations at the end of last year and the beginning of 2023, while the figures are coming out smaller. This means that consumers are bringing down their expenses because the cost of life is growing. High interest rate provides no optimism either.
The retail sales report from today signals quite clearly that at the April meeting the Reserve bank of Australia will make a pause in lifting the interest rate.
Earlier the RBA itself did not exclude the probability to put on halt the process of deciding upon the crediting price. The interest rate now equals 3.5%. This is the peak of 11 years.
On Wednesday, the inflation report will come out, and it may also be a turning point for the RBA. The CPI might have dropped to 7.1% from 7.4% earlier.