RBA Keeps Policy Unchanged; Aussie Edges higher

AUD

The Reserve Bank of Australia concluded its monetary policy meeting earlier today by leaving interest rates unchanged at 0.75%. The committee expressed the willingness to ease monetary policy further to support the economic growth if needed. The Australian dollar reacted positively as the bank stated that inflation would be close to the 2% target in 2020. The AUDUSD edged higher to $0.6917, and the EURAUD dropped to a five-week low of 1.6100.

Equities

Major US stock-index futures extended gains supported by the ongoing market optimism over a trade deal between China and the United States. President Donald Trump indicated that the world's largest economies are close to reaching a deal and restated that China wants to make a deal so badly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures logged a record high of 27468, the S&P500 futures soared to an all-time high of 3084, and Nasdaq futures rallied to 8248.

USD

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, recovered to 97.65 on lower chances of further monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve. Market participants are assuming that a trade deal between China and the United States would strengthen the economic activity, and grant the Federal Reserve additional time to assess the economic outlook before easing policy further. Currently, the CME Fed Watch tool is not showing any probability of an interest rate cut soon. The US 10-year yields rose to a high of 1.819%, the USDJPY edged higher to 108.85, and the EURUSD tumbled to $1.1111.

Metals

Gold prices drifted lower as investors' shifted to riskier assets amid ongoing market optimism. The price of a gold ounce dropped to a low of $1503, the price of a silver ounce declined to $17.94, and palladium plunged to $1767 after failing to log a new record high.

Oil

Oil prices held gains induced by trade optimism. Market participants are expecting that a trade deal between the world's largest economies would boost the global economic outlook and raise the demand for oil. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $56.49, and Brent futures finished at $62.08.

Major Economic Events

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