Australian Dollar Falls Ahead of RBA Decision
The Australian dollar fell to around $0.70 on the first trading day of November, extending modest losses from the previous week as investors braced for Tuesday’s Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy decision. The RBA is expected to lift its cash rate by 25 bps to a near two-decade high of 4.85%, marking its fifth rate increase this year and underscoring policymakers’ determination to prioritize containing inflation. Headline inflation rose to 3.9% year-on-year in Q3, well above the RBA’s 2—3% target range, while underlying inflation also remained elevated at 3.7%. Meanwhile, Governor Michele Bullock described the labour market as “a little tighter” than the RBA had anticipated, despite the unemployment rate holding at a five-year high of 4.7% in September. On the economic front, Australia’s Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge rose 0.5% month-on-month in October 2026, edging up from 0.3% in the previous month and marking its fourth straight monthly gain.
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The Australian dollar fell to around $0.70 on the first trading day of November, extending modest losses from the previous week as investors braced for Tuesday’s Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy decision. The RBA is expected to lift its cash rate by 25 bps to a near two-decade high of 4.85%, marking its fifth rate increase this year and underscoring policymakers’ determination to prioritize containing inflation. Headline inflation rose to 3.9% year-on-year in Q3, well above the RBA’s 2—3% target range, while underlying inflation also remained elevated at 3.7%.
Meanwhile, Governor Michele Bullock described the labour market as “a little tighter” than the RBA had anticipated, despite the unemployment rate holding at a five-year high of 4.7% in September. On the economic front, Australia’s Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge rose 0.5% month-on-month in October 2026, edging up from 0.3% in the previous month and marking its fourth straight monthly gain.