Australian Dollar Rallies for Third Day as GDP Growth Matches Estimates

The Australian dollar extended its rally for the third consecutive trading session today as the nation’s economy grew in line with forecasts last quarter, reducing chances for additional interest rate cuts from the central bank. Australian gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2013, matching analysts’ expectations exactly. The first quarter’s growth was revised down by 0.1 percentage point to 0.6 percent. Australian Industry Group reported that the manufacturing index rose from 42.0 in July to 46.4 in August, while the services index slipped from 39.4 to 39.0. The data was not stellar, but was not completely bad either. The signs of growth reinforced the view that the Reserve Bank of Australia will not ease its monetary policy further. AUD/USD advanced from 0.9060 to 0.9086 and AUD/JPY edged up from 90.21 to 90.40 as of 2:13 GMT today. EUR/AUD slid from 1.4530 to 1.4486.