Australian Dollar sits near March 2013 highs vs New Zealand Dollar after Aussie CPI, RBNZ

AUD/NZD gains strong positive traction on Wednesday amid a combination of supporting factors.
The hot Aussie consumer inflation figures lift RBA rate hike bets, boosting the AUD and the cross.
The RBNZ’s surprise on-hold rate decision weighs heavily on the NZD, contributing to the move up.

The AUD/NZD cross catches aggressive bids during the Asian session on Wednesday, rallying to its highest level since March 2013 following the release of hot Australian consumer inflation figures and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) surprise on-hold rate decision. Spot prices, however, trim a part of strong intraday gains to the 1.2600 mark and currently trade around 1.2550, up nearly 1.5% for the day.

TMGM Analysis: Financial Market News, Economic Calendar & Market Insights

Earlier today, the New Zealand central bank unexpectedly held the official cash rate (OCR) unchanged at 2.75% in a 4–3 vote split, exerting heavy downward pressure on the New Zealand Dollar (NZD). In the accompanying policy statement, the RBNZ signaled that tighter monetary policy is likely to be required but remains conditional on the economic outlook, though it does little to offer any support to the NZD or hinder the AUD/NZD pair's strong intraday move up.

The Australian Dollar (AUD), on the other hand, strengthens across the board in reaction to hotter-than-expected domestic consumer inflation figures. Adding to this, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock suggested that the central bank is less willing to ignore the energy-driven jump in prices, bolstering bets for an imminent interest rate hike in November and boosting the AUD. This further acts as a tailwind for the AUD/NZD cross and favors bulls.

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 New Zealand Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.02%	0.05%	0.02%	0.09%	-0.08%	1.47%	0.11%
EUR	-0.02%		0.03%	-0.02%	0.07%	-0.09%	1.44%	0.09%
GBP	-0.05%	-0.03%		-0.04%	0.03%	-0.14%	1.42%	0.06%
JPY	-0.02%	0.02%	0.04%		0.08%	-0.08%	1.45%	0.10%
CAD	-0.09%	-0.07%	-0.03%	-0.08%		-0.16%	1.37%	0.03%
AUD	0.08%	0.09%	0.14%	0.08%	0.16%		1.55%	0.19%
NZD	-1.47%	-1.44%	-1.42%	-1.45%	-1.37%	-1.55%		-1.32%
CHF	-0.11%	-0.09%	-0.06%	-0.10%	-0.03%	-0.19%	1.32%

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).