15.05.202601:37:32UTC+00Australian Dollar Poised for Weekly Loss

The Australian dollar slipped to about $0.72, retreating from its recent four-year high and heading for a weekly loss of roughly 0.6%, pressured by broad-based US dollar strength. The greenback extended its gains over the week as surging energy prices and ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz stoked inflation fears, bolstering expectations that the Federal Reserve could deliver another rate hike this year.

In Australia, the Reserve Bank has already raised interest rates three times this year in response to the war-driven global energy shock, and interest rate swaps now imply close to an 80% probability of a fourth increase by August. Next week’s release of the RBA’s meeting minutes will offer further insight into the policy outlook, while the Westpac Consumer Confidence survey will indicate whether sentiment has steadied after April’s negative reading.

Markets are also closely watching the second day of high-stakes negotiations between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Washington pushes for economic concessions from Beijing against the wider backdrop of the Iran conflict.