The AUD/USD pair weakened for the third consecutive trading day on Wednesday (August 20th). The Australian currency pair slumped near 0.6425 as antipodean currencies underperformed their peers. The Australian dollar faced sharp selling pressure as financial market participants expected the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rates again for the remainder of the year. Dovish bets from the RBA intensified as inflation in Australia has approached the central bank's desired range of 2%-3%. Earlier, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) maintained its benchmark interest rate. China's...
Gold edged higher as traders weighed the outlook for US monetary policy ahead of a key speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell later this week. Gold bullion prices traded near $3,330 per ounce as the market awaited clues from Powell's annual speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Swaps predict a high probability that the Fed will cut borrowing costs by a quarter point next month. Lower interest rates benefit gold because it doesn't pay interest. However, the Fed's monetary easing path was complicated by higher-than-expected inflation figures last week, which caused some...