Australia might not do what everyone thinks it’s going to do — here’s what’s happening in FX

Investing.com

Good afternoon!

The Australian dollar strengthened by as much as 0.9% after the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May monetary policy meeting minutes.

The meeting suggested that the board may hold off on cutting rates.

Previously, markets have been expecting the bank to cut rates at least once in the next 12 months.

The currency is up by 0.5% at 0.7326 as of 2:42 p.m. ET.

As for the rest of the world, here’s the scoreboard:

• The British pound strengthened by as much as 0.6% earlier in the day before retreating slightly after UK inflation slowed for the first time since September. Consumer prices in the UK rose 0.3% year-over-year in April, down from the 0.5% gain in March . This was the first time in eight months that UK price gains slowed from their previous month. The currency is currently stronger by 0.4% at 1.4458.
• The Japanese yen is little changed at 109.10 per dollar. “Speculators in the futures markets are holding a gross and net long yen position that is near record levels,” wrote Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a morning note to clients.
• The dollar index is little changed at 94.56 after a busy day of economic data. Consumer prices, industrial production, and housing starts all rose more than expected.