|

RBA to keep rates unchanged at March 3 meeting - Reuters Poll

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will keep its cash rate or the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75% next week and may cut twice later in the year, a Reuters poll showed. 

Key quotes

A majority of the 35 respondents expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to keep its benchmark rate at 0.75% at its March 3 policy review.

As many as 29 of 35, or 83% of those polled, forecast the first rate cut of the year to 0.5% before June.

18 of 35 respondents expect a second rate cut by year-end. 

With coronavirus spreading fast outside China and threatening to put a sizeable dent on global growth, markets have turned risk-averse, putting pressure on central banks to act. 

Markets think there is a 99% chance of the US Federal Reserve cutting rates by 25 basis points in March. 

Author

Omkar Godbole

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

More from Omkar Godbole
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD eases marginally, back to 1.1800

EUR/USD navigates a narrow range on Thursday, hovering around the 1.1800 neighbourhood in a context of humble gains in the US Dollar. The pair’s lacklustre performance come amid the unabated trade uncertainty, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the cautious tone from the ECB’s Lagarde.

GBP/USD retreats from tops, approaching 1.3540

GBP/USD partially sets aside Wednesday’s strong advance and recedes to the 1.3540 region on Thursday. Cable’s modest retracement follows the equally acceptable gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold clings to gains just below $5,200, focus on geopolitics

Gold is edging modestly higher on Thursday, adding to Wednesday’s uptick and holding just below the $5,200 mark per troy ounce against the backdrop of modest gains in the US Dollar. In the meantime, attention is turning to the geopolitical scenario following US-Iran nuclear talks.

Stellar: Relief bounce fades as bearish undertone persists

Stellar is trading around $0.16 at the time of writing on Thursday after rebounding more than 8% in the previous day. Derivatives data paints a negative picture as XLM’s short bets hit a monthly high while Open Interest continues to decline.

The one thing everyone is on the lookout for is US action of some sort against Iran

The FX market is minestrone soup these days. It is befuddled by conflicting data, rumors and small stories exaggerated out of proportion, and Trump-generated uncertainty. 

Bitcoin steadies as traders eye US–Iran talks

Bitcoin (BTC) price is stabilizing around $68,000 at the time of writing on Thursday after a 6.2% relief rally the previous day amid a broader downward trend.