AUD/NZD climbs to near 1.1630 as RBA raises interest rates by 25 bps to 3.85%

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The AUD/NZD pair jumps to near 1.1630 during the Asian trading session on Tuesday. The pair gains sharply as the Australian Dollar (AUD) strengthens after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raises interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.85%, as expected.

AUD/NZD gains sharply to near 1.1630, following the interest rate increase by the RBA.
The RBA was expected to tighten interest rate policy to curb mounting price pressures.
Investors await NZ Q4 employment and Australian Trade Balance data for December.

Australian Dollar Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of Australian Dollar (AUD) against listed major currencies today. Australian Dollar was the strongest against the US Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.16%	-0.14%	-0.08%	-0.09%	-0.84%	-0.40%	-0.18%
EUR	0.16%		0.01%	0.07%	0.07%	-0.69%	-0.25%	-0.02%
GBP	0.14%	-0.01%		0.06%	0.06%	-0.70%	-0.26%	-0.03%
JPY	0.08%	-0.07%	-0.06%		0.00%	-0.74%	-0.31%	-0.08%
CAD	0.09%	-0.07%	-0.06%	-0.01%		-0.75%	-0.33%	-0.09%
AUD	0.84%	0.69%	0.70%	0.74%	0.75%		0.44%	0.67%
NZD	0.40%	0.25%	0.26%	0.31%	0.33%	-0.44%		0.23%
CHF	0.18%	0.02%	0.03%	0.08%	0.09%	-0.67%	-0.23%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Australian Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent AUD (base)/USD (quote).

Australian central bank was expected to tighten its monetary policy conditions to curb accelerating inflationary pressures.

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that price pressures grew at an annualized pace of 3.6% in the last quarter of 2025, faster than the prior reading of 3.2%. In December, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped to 3.8% Year-on-Year (YoY), higher than estimates of 3.6% and the former release of 3.4%.

In the December policy meeting, the RBA left its Official Cash Rate (OCR) steady at 3.6%; however, Governor Michele Bullock guided in her press conference that “rate cuts are not on the horizon” as “risks to inflation have tilted to upside”.

Going forward, the next major trigger for the Australian Dollar will be the Trade Balance data for December, which is scheduled for Thursday.

Though investors have underpinned the AUD against the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), the latter also trades firmly against its other peers ahead of the Q4 employment data release on Wednesday. The labor market data is expected to show an increase in the Employment Change by 0.3% after remaining flat in the third quarter of 2025. The Unemployment Rate is seen steady at 5.3%.

Economic Indicator

RBA Interest Rate Decision

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announces its interest rate decision at the end of its eight scheduled meetings per year. If the RBA is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and raises interest rates it is usually bullish for the Australian Dollar (AUD). Likewise, if the RBA has a dovish view on the Australian economy and keeps interest rates unchanged, or cuts them, it is seen as bearish for AUD.