The Australian dollar rose the most in two weeks against the U.S. currency before a government report tomorrow that economists said will show inflation accelerated, boosting speculation interest rates will increase.
The Aussie gained versus all of its 16 major counterparts. The yen strengthened for the first time in eight days against the dollar as China’s largest manager of bad debt said the country’s bad-loan ratio increased “significantly,” spurring demand for safe-haven assets. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index snapped a seven-day gain before a report forecast to show U.S. home sales fell in March.
The Australian dollar gained 0.4 percent to 93.63 U.S. cents at 9:03 a.m. London time, the biggest advance since April 8. The yen strengthened 0.1 percent to 102.49 per dollar and rose 0.1 percent to 141.47 per euro. The euro was little changed at $1.3803.
The trimmed mean gauge of Australian consumer prices was 2.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, up from an inflation rate of 2.6 percent in the previous three months, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey before the Bureau of Statistics issues the data.
The RBA has said inflation is expected to stay consistent with its target over the next two years. The central bank reiterated in minutes published last week of its April 1 meeting that the most prudent course is likely to be a period of interest rates on hold. It targets average annual inflation of 2 percent to 3 percent.
No comments:
Post a Comment