- RBA monetary policy statement sets stage for imminent rate rises
- Gold and Silver bounce back after big overnight losses, up 1.25% and 2% respectively
- Japan return after 3-day holiday, Nikkei falls almost 2%
It’s been a quiet day on the news front although we’ve seen some sizeable moves mainly due to the hawkish RBA but also by bargain hunters.
Huge moves overnight saw the EUR/USD fall over 300 pips and NY closed near its lows. An early rally in the precious metals and talk of good sized bids near 1.4500 helped determine the first EUR/USD move. It closed in NY at 1.4535, rallied to 1.4587 on EUR/JPY buying but has slipped back on EUR/AUD selling primarily to end the day unchanged. Range: 1.4531/87
AUD/USD opened below 1.0600 but some early profit taking by AUD/JPY shorts set the scene. AUD/USD was trading around 1.0640 before the RBA statement and rallied almost another 100 pips thereafter. The market will now be pricing in a very high chance of a 25 bps rate hike in June. Ranges: AUD/USD 1.0579/1.0733, AUD/JPY 84.60/86.34
USD/JPY opened at 80.25 but rallied for the first few hours as dealers bought the crosss and speculated on possible BOJ intervention. EUR/JPY tried on two occasions to break above 117.40 but failed. Two major banks sent out notes warning of possible intervention but nothing eventuated. After a 3 day holiday, it was perhaps too much to expect. Ranges: USD/JPY 80.21/60, EUR/JPY 116.69/117.41
Cable 1.6378/1.6433, EUR/GBP .8862/85, USD/CHF .8677/.8712