{"id":59624,"date":"2023-04-03T10:37:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T07:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ironfx-com-php8.wp-dev.int.theitops.net\/?p=59624"},"modified":"2025-10-13T12:59:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T09:59:35","slug":"bitcoin-holds-the-ship-steady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ironfx-id.com\/vi\/bitcoin-holds-the-ship-steady\/","title":{"rendered":"RBA to pause rate hikes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oil prices tended to jump during today\u2019s opening in the Asian session, as on Sunday OPEC announced a surprise oil production cut of an additional 1.16 million barrels per day. The announcement came in a day before a virtual ministerial meeting and should the meeting confirm the organization\u2019s intentions to rebalance the market at a higher level, we may see oil prices rising further. The announcement also stoked fears for a possible acceleration of inflation in the US causing also the USD to gain at today\u2019s opening across the board and should also Fed policymakers start sounding more hawkish we may see support for the USD growing. We should note though that the USD gained despite the Core PCE price index slowing down both on a month-on-month level as well as on a year-on-year level, in a sign of easing inflationary pressures which allowed US stock markets to be on the rise on Friday, on increasing expectations for a possible easing of the Fed\u2019s aggressive hawkish approach on monetary policy. Yet given the latest development with OPEC it remains questionable whether the market sentiment is to remain risk-on today. On the contrary, we may see traders becoming more cautious, in expectation for the fog created to be cleared before entering buy positions in US equities again. Across the Atlantic, we note the weakening of the HICP rate for the Eurozone in March, which highlighted the easing of inflationary pressures in the Zone as a whole and may allow for the ECB to reconsider the possibility of another rate hike in its next meeting. Across the Channel, the pound tended to strengthen from the acceleration noted in the final GDP rate for Q4, which in turn tended to ease market worries for a possible recession in the UK economy. Last but not least we highlight RBA\u2019s interest rate decision during tomorrow\u2019s Asian session and note that the bank is expected to stand pat. Please note that the bank is expected to stand pat after 10 consecutive rate hikes. Should the bank actually remain on hold as expected, the market\u2019s focus is expected to shift towards RBA\u2019s forward guidance in Governor Lowe\u2019s statement. Should the Governor signal that the bank intends to pause its rate hikes, we may see the Aussie weakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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