The Australian dollar eased on Wednesday after benign inflation figures reinforced belief that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has room to lower interest rates further if needed. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said, however, that too much easing could lead to longer-term dangers through risk-taking and excessive borrowing, in effect setting the bar pretty high for any rate cuts.
All that left the Aussie a touch softer on the day at $0.7411, down from a session high of $0.7440. Against the yen, the Aussie dipped 0.2 percent to 91.70. Wednesday's data showed Australia's annual pace of core inflation at around 2.3 percent, well within the RBA's target band of 2 to 3 percent. "The Reserve Bank can comfortably ignore inflation and discuss merits of another interest rate cut on the economy if needed," said Savanth Sebastian, an economist at CommSec.
In contrast, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is considered almost certain to cut interest rates on Thursday. That is keeping the kiwi dollar on the defensive. It traded around $0.6609, having recoiled from Tuesday's one-week high of $0.6655. Versus a currency basket, it edged down to 70.15, nearing a three-year low of 69.08 set last week. "Our expectations are for a 25 basis point cut and a pretty explicit easing bias and I see the New Zealand dollar pretty well priced for that," ANZ currency strategist Sam Tuck said. A Reuters poll of 14 economists shows all respondents expect the RBNZ to cut its Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 3.0 percent on Thursday. New Zealand government bonds edged up, nudging yields 1 basis point lower across the curve. Australian bond futures were firmer, with the three-year bond contract rising 4 ticks to 98.010. The 10-year contract climbed 3 ticks to 97.0550.