During early Asian trading on Monday, AUD/USD was trading around 0.6695, with a mildly positive trend. A weaker US dollar (USD) has provided some support to the pair. Fed officials Bostic, Barr, Waller, Jefferson and Mester will speak on Monday. The Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes of its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin noted that inflation is falling but stressed that “more time is needed” to achieve the Fed’s 2% goal. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said the Fed’s current monetary policy stance is appropriate as it continues to evaluate new economic data. In addition, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said that the Fed’s policy is restrictive, but if inflation stalls or reverses, the Fed is willing to raise interest rates.
Minutes of the Fed meeting will be released on Wednesday. At its most recent meeting, the Fed kept interest rates steady, with little change in the tone of its policy statement. The Fed highlighted the lack of further progress toward its inflation target. Investors have put the probability of a rate cut in June at 10% and in September at nearly 80%. The argument that the U.S. will maintain higher interest rates for a longer period of time may boost the U.S. dollar in the short term and limit the upside of AUD/USD.