Aussie continued to trade heavy this morning after yesterday’s sharp losses after Q1 CPI data and the HSBC China flash PMI. Aussie-dollar fell to a $0.9268 low last night in the US and started in Asia at $0.9291. It ran into early weakness which took it to a $0.9283 low as aussie-kiwi was driven lower by the New Zealand currency’s gains after the RBNZ hiked its policy rate earlier today. Aussie-dollar recovered a bit to the$0.9290 region and then pciked up demand from an Asian account which carried it up to $0.9300. It briefly poked above but persistent sellers slammed the lid on the pair. The pair repeated the attempt around mid-morning but eventually turned lower. Aussie-dollar sank back to $0.9283 late in the morning and again perked up to $0.9290. Earlier, MNI published an article stating the RBA is unlikely to bring back its easing bias despite lower-than-expected first quarter inflation and an elevated exchange rate, even if both its growth and inflation forecasts are lowered in the next policy statement. Aussie-dollar was last at $0.9295, almost flat from where it had closed in the US, at $0.9291.
