Australian Dollar outperforms its peers ahead of key inflation data

The Australian Dollar trades broadly firm ahead of the inflation data for January.
Australian CPI is estimated to have grown at a moderate pace of 3.7% against 3.8% in December.
The US Dollar trades higher despite US President Trump’s fresh tariff threats.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The Australian Dollar (AUD) outperforms its major currency peers, trades 0.1% higher to near 0.7065 against the US Dollar (USD) during the early European trading session on Tuesday. The Australian currency rises ahead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for January, which will be released on Wednesday.

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		0.07%	0.01%	0.26%	-0.02%	-0.14%	-0.13%	0.16%
EUR	-0.07%		-0.06%	0.20%	-0.09%	-0.21%	-0.20%	0.09%
GBP	-0.01%	0.06%		0.25%	-0.04%	-0.15%	-0.14%	0.15%
JPY	-0.26%	-0.20%	-0.25%		-0.29%	-0.41%	-0.40%	-0.10%
CAD	0.02%	0.09%	0.04%	0.29%		-0.12%	-0.11%	0.19%
AUD	0.14%	0.21%	0.15%	0.41%	0.12%		0.01%	0.28%
NZD	0.13%	0.20%	0.14%	0.40%	0.11%	-0.01%		0.29%
CHF	-0.16%	-0.09%	-0.15%	0.10%	-0.19%	-0.28%	-0.29%

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).

Investors will pay close attention to the Australian inflation data to get fresh cues on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy outlook. In the policy meeting earlier this month, the RBA kept the door open for further interest rate hikes, even as it raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.85%, citing upside inflation risks.

“Inflation pulse is too strong, and we cannot allow inflation to get away from us again,” Bullock said in the press conference post-interest rate announcement on February 3.

On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is expected to show that the CPI grew at an annualized pace of 3.7%, slower than 3.8% in December. In the same period, Trimmed Mean CPI is estimated to have risen steadily by 3.3%.

Though investors have underpinned the Australian Dollar against the US Dollar (USD), the latter trades firm against its other peers despite fresh tariff threats from United States (US) President Donald Trump.

During the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades 0.12% to near 97.80.

On Monday, US President Trump threatened steeper levies against countries that are “playing games with existing trade agreements” after the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict.

Economic Indicator

Consumer Price Index (YoY)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on a monthly basis, measures the changes in the price of a comprehensive basket of goods and services acquired by household consumers. The indicator is the primary measure of headline inflation after a new methodology was applied to transition from quarterly to monthly readings, applying to data from April 2024 onwards. The YoY reading compares prices in the reference month to the same month a year earlier. A high reading is seen as bullish for the Australian Dollar (AUD), while a low reading is seen as bearish.

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The British Pound is trimming previous gains against the US Dollar on Monday, returning to the mid-range of the 1.3400s down from fresh seven-week highs, above 1.3500 earlier on the day. Weaker-than-expected UK manufacturing data added pressure on the Pound, which rallied at the Asian session opening, amid news of a halt to the hostilities in Iran.

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