ICYMI – RBA Gov Bullock ruled out a rate cut

Justin had the headlines from Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Bullock here:

• RBA’s Bullock: Underlying inflation is still too high to consider a near-term rate cut

Which included these from Bullock:

• Policy will need to remain restrictive until there is more confidence on inflation
• There is still some way to go in returning inflation sustainably to target band
• Our forecasts suggest a sustainable return to target will occur in 2026

Justin added that these are not new. Yep. Never hurts for Bullock to reiterate the RBA outlook. Earlier this week we had the most recent inflation reading from Australia. It was the ‘monthly’ data for October. Monthly CPI from Australia is only just a guide, its not official, but there is no doubt Bullock would have cast an eye over this data ahead of speaking. The data is here, where I noted that the ‘core’ reading was … “ugly”. At 3.5% y/y that’s well above even the top extreme of the RBA 2 – 3% target band. I noted in the wrap-up for the day that the sticky high core inflation reading argues against any near-term Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate cuts.

Bullock continued on, adding a nod to data-dependence:

• RBA governor Bullock: If inflation falls more quickly than forecast, we can respond

And also acknowledged watching developments in the world’s biggest economy with a new administration incoming:

• RBA governor Bullock: Hard to tell what lies ahead when it comes to Trump administration

The RBA next meet on December 9 -10. On hold is expected.

AUD was little changed overnight. Traders too busy stuffing themselves with beer (and turkey if there was any space left):

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.