RBA to remain patient - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe that a potential rebound for fourth-quarter growth rate, increased focus on the first quarter data and upcoming Federal Elections will likely allow the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to remain patient on policy guidance.

The central bank put rate cuts back on the table last month, moving away from the long-held tightening bias.

Further, Westpac, one of the big four Australian banks, has predicted that the central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points in both August and November of 2019.

Even so, the Aussie bond yield curve looks relatively steep to other markets, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

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

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.