The Australian dollar advanced today as nation’s economic growth accelerated, exceeding analysts’ expectations. It supported the outlook that the Australian economy will be able to grow without additional stimulus.
Australia’s gross domestic product expanded 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months. The actual value exceeded the forecast of 0.7 percent and the third quarter’s growth of 0.6 percent. The services index of Australian Industry Group jumped by 5.8 to 55.2 in February, showing that the sector returned to growth.
The Reserve Bank of Australia predicted yesterday that interest rates will likely remain stable in the foreseeable future and today’s data supported such outlook. Some economists even believe that an interest rate hike is possible this year.
AUD/USD rose from 0.8948 to 0.8976 and AUD/JPY advanced from 91.46 to 91.85 as of 16:21 GMT today. EUR/AUD declined from 1.5353 to 1.5296.
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