The Australian dollar appreciated to around $0.650 on Wednesday, recovering some of the prior session’s losses, as investors weighed comments from an RBA official pointing to a likely hotter-than-expected inflation. Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter noted that recent economic data has been slightly stronger than anticipated, indicating inflation in the third quarter may exceed earlier forecasts. Her remarks echoed Tuesday’s RBA minutes, which showed policymakers saw no urgency to cut rates amid persistent services inflation and steady employment. Markets now assign roughly even odds of a rate cut at the November 4 meeting and about a 60% chance in December, down from 70% previously. Attention now turns to upcoming labor figures later this week. Elsewhere, ongoing softness in the US dollar provided further support, following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that reinforced expectations of additional US monetary easing.
