Australian dollar lower on rate cut expectations

THE Australian dollar is lower, weighed down by expectations that the Reserve Bank will cut the cash rate for a second time in 2015 in the coming months.

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THE Australian dollar is lower, weighed down by expectations that the Reserve Bank will cut the cash rate for a second time in 2015 in the coming months.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 77.77 US cents, down from 77.87 cents on Friday.

OM Financial senior client adviser Stuart Ive said the Australian dollar fell despite gains in commodity prices at the end of last week.

“The Aussie dollar is pretty much weighed down by monetary policy at the moment, expectations that we’re going to see more rate cuts,” he said.

“The RBA stands willing to cut rates as the employment situation and the economy continue to stagger along.” Mr Ive said it would be a quite start to the week with no significant local data out on Monday and US markets being closed for the Presidents Day public holiday.

After that, all eyes will be on the Tuesday’s release of the minutes of the Reserve Bank’s board meeting of two weeks ago when the cash rate was cut to a new record low of 2.25 per cent.

Mr Ive expects the Australian dollar to trade in a fairly tight range on Monday, between 77.50 and 78.15 US cents.

Currency snapshot at 0700 AEDT on Monday

One Australian dollar buys:

* 77.77 US cents, from 77.87 cents on Friday

* 92.12 Japanese yen, from 92.28 yen

* 68.13 euro cents, from 68.07 euro cents

* 104.27 New Zealand cents, from 104.47 NZ cents

* 50.41 British pence, from 50.51 pence

One euro buys:

* 114.14 US cents, from 114.38 cents

* 135.23 Japanese yen, from 135.55 yen

One US dollar buys:

* 118.46 Japanese yen, from 118.51 yen

(*Closes taken at 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Source: IRESS

Originally published as Australian dollar lower on rate cut expectations