The Australian dollar slipped to around $0.70 on the first trading day of November, extending the modest losses recorded in the previous week as investors awaited Tuesday’s monetary policy decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The central bank is widely expected to raise its cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.85%, a near 20-year high. That would mark its fifth rate hike this year and highlight policymakers’ determination to prioritize bringing inflation under control.
Headline inflation accelerated to 3.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, well above the RBA’s 2–3% target band, while underlying inflation also stayed elevated at 3.7%. At the same time, Governor Michele Bullock said the labour market was “a little tighter” than the RBA had anticipated, even though the unemployment rate remained at a five-year high of 4.7% in September.
On the data front, the Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge for Australia rose 0.5% month-on-month in October 2026, up from 0.3% in the prior month and marking its fourth consecutive monthly increase.
