The Australian dollar held near one-month highs as investors shrugged off a widely expected move by the nation's central bank to keep rates steady and priced in only a modest chance of an easing in the next month or so. The Australian dollar had paused at $0.7670, not far from crucial chart resistance of 77 US cents - a level it has breached several times in the last couple of months but failed to hold above.
It eased from the day's high of $0.7691 after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held rates steady at a record low 1.50 percent. New RBA governor Philip Lowe also resisted any temptation to signal a bias to ease again, saying only that an unchanged stance was "consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time."
The Aussie is among the best performing major currencies in 2016, up 5.2 percent despite two rate cuts this year. Against the Japanese yen, the Aussie was up 0.5 percent on Tuesday to 78.30 yen after a Bank of Japan (BoJ) survey showed that long-term inflation expectations from companies had weakened in September. The New Zealand dollar was a tad firmer at $0.7288. New Zealand government bonds gained, sending yields 1 basis point lower across the curve. Australian government bond futures eased, with the three-year bond contract down 5 ticks at 98.47. The 10-year contract fell 4.5 ticks to 97.965.
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