Heads up:
- RBA leaves cash rate unchanged at 4.10% for a second straight meeting
- Aussie falls as RBA opts for an extended pause
- China reportedly asked banks to delay dollar purchases to ease pressure on yuan
- Eurozone July final manufacturing PMI 42.7 vs 42.7 prelim
- Germany July unemployment change -4k vs 20k expected
- UK July final manufacturing PMI 45.3 vs 45.0 prelim
- UK July Nationwide house prices -0.2% vs -0.2% m/m expected
- Gold demand pulls back in Q2 as central banks slow down on buying - WGC
Markets:
- USD leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 3.6 bps to 3.992%
- Gold down 0.6% to $1,953.09
- WTI crude down 0.4% to $81.50
- Bitcoin down 1.2% to $28,854
The Australian dollar is the biggest loser in European trading, after the RBA decided to leave its cash rate unchanged at 4.10% for a second straight meeting.
The expectation was that the central bank would hike by 25 bps, although markets did price in the opposite with roughly 66% odds of there being no change ahead of the decision. Still, there was no signal that another rate hike would be imminent and that was enough to tilt the aussie lower during the session.
AUD/USD was trading around 0.6695 before that but is now down at the lows for the day at 0.6625, lower by 1.4%, and angling towards the end-June and July lows near 0.6600 next.
The Japanese yen is the other notable underperformer with USD/JPY rising to clip the 143.00 mark, as higher bond yields are helping. On that note, the dollar is also keeping steadier across the board as it holds modest gains against the euro, pound, franc and loonie.
This comes as we see a bit of a risk averse mood with equities slipping lower on the session. There weren't any major catalysts but it is the start of August and so, we are seeing flows move about. That said, the losses for stocks aren't a scratch when you compare to the recent run higher and the July gains.
