Ella 
The Australian dollar (AUD) is set to extend its week-long decline on Monday despite higher U.S. bond yields, while the U.S. dollar continues to weaken. However, AUD/USD came under pressure after the Reserve Bank of Australia issued dovish comments at its latest meeting.
The Reserve Bank of Australia issued its Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) last Friday, pointing out that stubbornly high inflation has brought headwinds and the Australian economy remains sluggish. The RBA aims to keep inflation consistent with its target. After careful consideration, there was the idea of pressing the pause button in November, but in the end the Reserve Bank of Australia tended to believe that raising interest rates was a more effective measure to solve the inflation problem.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell unexpectedly took a more hawkish stance than expected in his speech on Thursday. Powell expressed concern that current policy may not be restrictive enough to control inflation to the coveted 2.0% target. However, market sentiment suggests that there is a general belief that the Fed has ended its tightening cycle.
However, the dollar faced challenges on Friday after preliminary data from the Michigan Consumer Confidence Index for November showed that U.S. consumer confidence had eased. The reading fell to 60.4 from 63.8 the previous month.
