Australian Dollar Calms Down

The Australian Dollar gave back some gains from earlier in the week when surprisingly strong inflation data was released on Wednesday. While the currency markets have been quiet over the past few days, activity across the globe caused several mainline currencies to shift dramatically. Improved inflation data brought the Australian Dollar back to $0.7504 after a brief stint at a 6-year high last month. Commerzbank analyst Antje Prafcke noted that, “The Reserve Bank of Australia might be forced into action after all. The market is likely to increasingly assume that the RBA will have to rethink its expansionary monetary policy…” In other news, the U.S. Dollar index remained level at 93.896, but the Dollar fell 0.3% against the Japanese Yen, with the Yen sitting at 113.76 per dollar. The Canadian Dollar fell about 0.2% to 1.24165 in anticipation of a policy announcement from Canada’s central bank, which may raise its inflation forecast and end its stimulus measures. Finally, the Euro was up 0.1% to 1.1606 as the European Central Bank is set to meet on Thursday, but analysts believe the central bank will not continue with aggressive stimulus-era policies.