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(CEP News) - The Australian dollar is down against majors today ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting tomorrow, where the bank is expected to cut rates by 75 basis points to 4.50%.
Economists at Westpac said despite data releases at home such as inflation expectations and corporate profits, the Australian dollar's movements remain subject to "negative equity market sentiment, with regional markets down and US equity futures pointing to a lower open at this stage." The Dow futures index is down 62.00 points to 8759.00, the S&P futures index is down 7.60 points at 887.70 and the Nasdaq futures index is down 9.75 points to 1176.25. Earlier today, the TD Securities monthly inflation estimate fell by 0.6% in November, and by 3.0% annually, bringing annual inflation within the RBA's target range. Australian corporate operating profits grew 5.2% in the third quarter, after increasing 15.7% in the second quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Meanwhile, inventories grew 0.7%, below the 0.8% growth recorded in the second quarter. Tomorrow, the ABS will release retail sales for October, expected to decline 0.2% month over month after falling 1.1% in September. Later on, the RBA will announce their cash target at 2:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EST) in Sydney. The euro was up 0.0184 to 1.9557 against the Australian dollar. The Australian dollar was down 0.0081 to 0.6474 against the greenback. The Canadian dollar was up 0.0134 to 1.2437 against the Australian dollar. The Australian dollar was down 0.8555 to 61.705 against the yen. The Australian dollar was down 0.0019 to 1.1945 against the New Zealand dollar. All data taken at 9:33 p.m. EST By Megan Ainscow,
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