RBA HOLDS RATES - ALL EYES ON THE US ELECTIONS NOW

As widely expected, the RBA Board left the cash rate unchanged at 1.50% at the Board meeting held on Melbourne Cup day. On Friday the statement of monetary policy was published. GDP growth is tracking between 2.5 - 3.5 per cent through to 2016/17 and is set to rise to between 3 and 4 per cent towards the end of calendar year 2018. The RBA forecasts the Trade Weighted Index at 65 and to 77 US cents. Household demand is expected to be supported by low interest rates and gains to employment and wealth. Inflation is expected to track between 1.5 - 2.5 per cent in the foreseeable future while the bank expressed concern on oversupply of apartments in inner city areas of Melbourne and Brisbane. We believe that the rates are now set to remain on hold for some time to come. 
Focus now shifts to the US elections as the race to the White House seems agonisingly close between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Today the FBI has confirmed that they found nothing of substance to implicate Mrs Clinton, an issue that was raised by the FBI boss Comey eleven days before the elections. As to what impact this will have on the elections and the final results, time can only tell and there's not long to go until the results come out on Wednesday our time here in Australia. 

MARKET DATA

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Australia Cash rate
Australia 90 day bank bill
Australia 10 y bond
US 10y Govt bond
AUD/USD
AUD/EUR
AUD/JPY
AUD/CNY
ASX 200
S&P 500
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Shanghai Composite
Brent Oil (USD per BBL)
Gold Spot (USD per oz)
Iron Ore

As at 4-Nov
1.50
1.75
2.32
1.78
0.7680
0.6923
79.17
5.1926
5,180
2,085
17,888
3,125
45.58
1,305
63.67