AUD/USD stays firm around 0.7000 after RBA’s hawkish interest rate hike

AUD/USD surges almost 1% above 0.7000 as the RBA keeps the door open for further interest rate hikes.
RBA Governor Bullock warns of upside inflation risks.
Upbeat US ISM Manufacturing PMI data for January strengthens the US Dollar.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The AUD/USD pair trades almost 1% higher, slightly above 0.7000, during the European trading session on Tuesday. The Aussie pair demonstrates significant strength as the Australian Dollar (AUD) outperforms its peers, following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy announcement.

Australian Dollar Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of Australian Dollar (AUD) against listed major currencies today. Australian Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.00%	0.02%	0.20%	0.09%	-0.78%	-0.47%	-0.14%
EUR	-0.00%		0.02%	0.20%	0.09%	-0.79%	-0.47%	-0.15%
GBP	-0.02%	-0.02%		0.19%	0.07%	-0.80%	-0.49%	-0.16%
JPY	-0.20%	-0.20%	-0.19%		-0.09%	-0.96%	-0.66%	-0.32%
CAD	-0.09%	-0.09%	-0.07%	0.09%		-0.87%	-0.56%	-0.23%
AUD	0.78%	0.79%	0.80%	0.96%	0.87%		0.32%	0.64%
NZD	0.47%	0.47%	0.49%	0.66%	0.56%	-0.32%		0.33%
CHF	0.14%	0.15%	0.16%	0.32%	0.23%	-0.64%	-0.33%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Australian Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent AUD (base)/USD (quote).

In the policy meeting, the RBA raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.85%, as expected, and kept the door open for further policy tightening, citing upside inflation risks. “Inflation pulse is too strong, and we cannot allow inflation to get away from us again,” RBA Governor Michele Bullock said in the press conference.

In the last quarter of 2025, the Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew at an annualized pace of 3.6%, faster than the prior reading of 3.2%. In December, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped to 3.8% Year-on-Year (YoY), higher than estimates of 3.6% and the previous release of 3.4%.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar (USD) trades broadly calm amid a partial United States (US) federal shutdown. As of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades flat around 97.60. The DXY stays close to the weekly high of 97.73 posted the previous day.

On Monday, the US Dollar gained sharply after the US ISM reported that the manufacturing sector activity returned to growth in January. The Manufacturing PMI came in at 52.6, significantly higher than 47.9 in December. A figure above 50.00 is seen as an expansion in the business activity.

Going forward, investors will focus on the US ADP Employment Change and the ISM Service PMI data for January, which will be released on Wednesday.

Economic Indicator

RBA Interest Rate Decision

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announces its interest rate decision at the end of its eight scheduled meetings per year. If the RBA is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and raises interest rates it is usually bullish for the Australian Dollar (AUD). Likewise, if the RBA has a dovish view on the Australian economy and keeps interest rates unchanged, or cuts them, it is seen as bearish for AUD.

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