ING’s Francesco Pesole notes that the Reserve Bank of Australia delivered a hawkish hold, stressing that inflation remains too high and further rate hikes are possible. However, markets focused instead on softer Australian growth, pushing short‑term swap rates and the Australian Dollar lower, underlining the higher bar now required for hawkish central bank communication to support currencies.

RBA message overshadowed by growth concerns

"Australia is an example of the higher bar for hawkish communication set by markets: the RBA governor tried to deliver a hawkish hold this morning, explicitly saying inflation is still too high and rate hikes remain a possibility."

"But markets seem more focused on the softer growth story and short-term swap rates have come under pressure along with AUD."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)