The AUD/JPY cross remains under heavy selling pressure for the second consecutive day, falling to a six-month low during the Asian session on Wednesday following the release of Australian consumer inflation figures. Bears now await a sustained break and acceptance below the 109.00 mark before positioning for any further losses.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% in August, down from 1% recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, the yearly rate accelerated from 3.5% in July to 4%, and the Trimmed Mean CPI held steady at 3.6% YoY during the reported month. Meanwhile, the data does little to revive bets for another interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) against the backdrop of a mild-dovish tilt by Governor Bullock at the post-meeting press conference on Tuesday. This, in turn, undermines the Australian Dollar (AUD) and continues to exert downward pressure on the AUD/JPY cross.
Meanwhile, Aussie bulls shrugged off China‘s official PMIs, which showed that business activity in both manufacturing and services sectors recorded growth in September. The Japanese Yen (JPY), on the other hand, draws support from looming intervention fears and hawkish Bank of Japan (BoJ) bets. Japan’s top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura and Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned markets to take joint US-Japan messaging on FX depreciation seriously. This follows after US President Donald Trump conveyed his concerns about the JPYs depreciation to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Furthermore, Minutes from the BoJs July monetary policy meeting, released on Monday, revealed that policymakers debated the need for faster interest rate hikes amid growing concern over mounting inflation risks. This lifted expectations that the BoJ will hike again as soon as October or December. This, in turn, favors JPY bulls and backs the case for a further depreciating move for the AUD/JPY cross.