AUD/USD Update – 18/07/2017 (10:09am) – by Arjun Lakhanpal

AUD/USD Update – 18/07/2017 (10:09am): AUD blasted higher last night as the dollar weakened and the RBA minutes were more hawkish.. RBA Mins: steady policy stance consistent with growth/inflation targets; welcomed improvements in world economy; nevertheless domestic labour and housing mkts continued to warrant careful monitoring; repeats rising AUD would complicate economic rebalancing; Q2 economic data generally positive in Australia, suggests GDP growth increased in Q2 with household consumption picking up; recent rise in employment will support household incomes/spending; fiscal policy to be more expansionary in 2017/18 than prev expected; too early for tighter lending rules to have full effect on housing mkt; estimates new neutral real rate had fallen to around 1%, neutral nominal rate at 3.5%. (higher than expected)