Australian dollar rises for third day before CPI data give RBA rate clues

[TOKYO] Australia's dollar rose for a third day amid speculation that Wednesday's consumer-price data will signal a recovery, allowing the central bank to hold interest rates at its policy meeting next week.

The Aussie dollar strengthened against its 10 major peers on Wednesday, heading for a second monthly gain. The probability that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce rates next Tuesday fell to 55 per cent from 64 per cent at the end of last week, interest-rate swaps show.

Second-quarter CPI probably rose 0.4 per cent from the previous quarter when it fell 0.2 per cent, according to median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

"The Australian dollar seems to have found a little support on waning confidence that the RBA will cut rates next week," said Sean Callow, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Sydney.

The Aussie rose 0.2 per cent to 75.17 US cents as of 8.46 am in Tokyo, extending a two-day, 0.5 per cent advance.

BLOOMBERG