Australia's economy outpaced all forecasts at the fastest pace in almost two years

Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views (AUD/USD) 
02 Mar 2016 02:38GMT

AUD/USD - ...... Aud maintains a firm undertone after jumping from 0.7166 to 0.7236 after release of upbeat AU GDP data. Reuters later reported Australia's economy outpaced all forecasts to grow at the fastest pace in almost two years last quarter as strength in consumer and government spending offset the heavy drag from a global mining slump. 

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, from the previous quarter when it rose an upwardly revised 1.1 per cent. 
That propelled growth for the year to 3 percent, well above the 2.5 percent that had been expected by both analysts and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). 
The central bank has held rates steady since May last year and just this week skipped a chance to ease, saying it saw "reasonable prospects" for growth. 
RBA Governor Glenn Stevens did say there would be scope for further easing given that inflation looked set to remain low, and investors are still wagering he will have to move eventually given headwinds facing the global economy. 

However, the timing has been pushed out with interbank futures now implying a 45 percent chance of a cut by May, compared to 60 percent before the data. 
The RBA has made it clear it would prefer any further stimulus to come through a lower Australian dollar, but is being thwarted by the drastic easing of central banks elsewhere.