AUD Surges as RBA Hawkishness Boosts Bets for September Rate Hike
The Australian Dollar (AUD) is trading slightly higher against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, with prices near 0.7070 at the time of writing.
This uptrend comes as Reserve Bank of Australia's Assistant Governor Chris Kent made hawkish comments in a Reuters interview, affirming that interest rates are restrictive and working but leaving room for further monetary tightening in the near-term.
Kent's remarks follow a similar stance taken by the RBA earlier this week, with Governor Michelle Bullock stating that the committee left interest rates unchanged to wait for 'a bit more information' but keeping a rate hike top of mind.
The US Dollar, on the other hand, is losing momentum ahead of the release of July's US Retail Sales figures, which are expected to show a 0.1% uptick in retail consumption following a 0.2% gain in June.
Analysts at Danske Bank highlight that private consumption was the most important growth driver in Q2 and that July's reading will provide 'the first hard data evidence of whether the strength also continued into late summer.'