Australian Dollar Appreciates As Strong Inflation Spurs Rate Hike Expectations

The Australian dollar advanced against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Wednesday, as the nation's core inflation accelerated to a six-year high in the third quarter, fueling hopes that the the Reserve Bank of Australia may tighten monetary policy earlier than projected.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's consumer prices rose 3 percent on year in the third quarter, after a gain of 3.8 percent in the previous quarter. The rate was expected to rise to 3.1 percent.

On a quarterly basis, inflation gained 0.8 percent, matching forecasts and unchanged from last month.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean grew 0.7 percent on quarter, exceeding expectations for 0.5 percent, which would have been unchanged from the second quarter.

The annual rate gained to 2.1 percent - beating forecasts for 1.8 percent and up from 1.6 percent in the three months prior. The reading was the highest since 2015.

Traders awaited policy announcements from the European central bank and the Bank of Canada for policy clues in the wake of growing inflationary pressures.

Solid earnings and economic data underpinned sentiment, tempering fears about growth.

The aussie climbed to a 6-day high of 0.7536 against the greenback from Tuesday's close of 0.7496. On the upside, 0.78 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The aussie rose to a 6-day high of 86.06 against the yen and near a 7-month high of 1.5398 against the euro, up from Tuesday's closing values of 85.56 and 1.5449, respectively. The aussie is seen finding resistance around 88.00 against the yen and 1.50 against the euro.

The aussie spiked up to a 1-1/2-month high of 0.9336 against the loonie and near a 2-week high of 1.0518 against the kiwi, compared to yesterday's closing values of 0.9286 and 1.0461, respectively. The aussie is likely to find resistance around 0.96 against the loonie and 1.075 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, Swiss economic sentiment index for October is set for release in the European session.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will present his Autumn Budget at 8:30 am ET.

U.S. durable goods orders and wholesale inventories for September will be out in the New York session.

The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision at 10:00 am ET. The BoC is widely expected to keep its policy rate steady at 0.25 percent.