The AUD/USD pair remains steady above the immediate support of 0.6520 in Friday’s New York session after the release of the mixed United States (US) Personal Consumption Expenditure Inflation (PCE) report for June.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that annual headline PCE inflation decelerated expectedly to 2.5% from May’s reading of 2.6%. In the same period, the core PCE inflation, which is the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred inflation gauge, grew steadily by 2.6% against expectations of 2.5%.

The month-on-month headline figure rose expectedly by 0.1% while the core inflation grew at a faster pace of 0.2%. Stickier core inflation figures could weigh on market expectations that the Fed will start reducing interest rates from the September meeting.

For more cues, investors will look for Fed’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday in which the central bank is widely anticipated to leave interest rates unchanged in the range of 5.25%-5.50%.

Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar (AUD) has been facing an intense sell-off for more than a week as deepening worries over the global growth outlook have dampened iron ore prices. Australia caters to more than half of global iron-ore demand, and a sharp decline in its prices has raised concerns over foreign flows to the nation.

Global growth woes came after China posted weaker-than-expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year. Also, China’s Third Plenum lacked blockbuster liquidity measures to spurt consumption.

Going forward, the next trigger for the Australian Dollar will be the Q2 Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which will provide cues as to whether the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will hike interest rates further this year. In the first quarter, price pressures rose at a faster pace of 1.0% from 0.6% growth recorded in the last quarter of 2023.

More By This Author: