Australian share market tumbles as investors await Reserve Bank's interest rate decision

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Australian share market has seen a sharp decline, with investors on edge ahead of the Reserve Bank's crucial interest rate decision tomorrow. The outcome could shape the future of Australia's financial landscape.

Transcript

00:00Well, the Reserve Bank will almost certainly keep interest rates on hold tomorrow.

00:06But money markets will be looking for clues from the RBA governor's post-meeting statement

00:11to see if she rules out the possibility of a rate increase and whether Michelle Bullock

00:16continues to talk tough on inflation.

00:19But since the Aussie dollar has jumped to 68.2 US cents, the highest it's been all year,

00:25it seems a lot of traders are betting the RBA will continue to go slow and hold off

00:30on cutting rates for at least the next few months.

00:33Now that's significantly at odds with the rate-cutting cycle that's already happening

00:37for major economies like the US, where inflation is a bit more under control.

00:43Hence the much weaker greenback against other currencies, including the Aussie.

00:47Meanwhile, the all odds didn't do so well today, given it's fallen 0.6 of a percent

00:53from Friday's record high.

00:55Coals and Woolworths dropped more than 3% each after the ACCC announced it was suing

01:00them for misleading customers about discounts, which allegedly weren't real discounts.

01:06And shares of mining giant BHP tumbled after a fall in iron ore prices, while oil and gold

01:12prices went up.

01:14Now looking overseas, Wall Street also slipped from its record highs, while it was a solid

01:18day for Asia.

01:20And finally, here's how much debt Australians have compared to their net disposable income,

01:25and it's mainly due to property prices.

01:28At 214%, this measure of financial strain is close to a record high, and it's much higher

01:34than other countries.

01:36And that's finance.

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