The Australian dollar held below $0.705, near ten-week lows and headed for a modest weekly loss as a stronger US dollar and fading bets of additional RBA rate hikes weighed on the currency. Markets increasingly suspect the Reserve Bank of Australia has finished tightening after keeping the cash rate unchanged this week, with the odds of one more hike this year reduced to about 50%. While Governor Michele Bullock maintained that further tightening remains possible if inflation persists, markets expect it would take a sharply higher second-quarter inflation reading to trigger another move. Meanwhile, the US dollar index climbed to a one-year high after the Fed Reserve’s hawkish hold prompted traders to increase bets on further rate hikes. Nearly half of policymakers projected at least one increase this year amid growing inflation concerns. Elsewhere, a US-Iran interim deal and the resumption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz provided some support for the risk sensitive AUD.
