The ASX is set to tumble following yesterday’s shock announcement of another interest rate rise. The cash rate now sits at 3.85 per cent — an 11-year high.
Deloitte Access Economics has rebuked the RBA for playing “recession roulette”. Banks NAB and AMP increased the forecasted probabilities of Australia slipping into a recession from 40 per cent to 45 per cent.
While we were sleeping, Wall Street saw falls ahead of an incoming Federal Reserve interest rate decision. Experts are expecting a 0.25 per cent increase to its benchmark interest rate.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones index dropped roughly one per cent each.
Back home, the Aussie dollar saw a 0.5-cent raise, buying 67 US cents and 53 British pence. The price of Bitcoin rallied, up 1.5 per cent.
Oil prices plunged by around 5 per cent to a five-week low. This was driven by worries fuel demand could suffer if central banks in the U.S. and Europe raised interest rates again this week.
Gold was up nearly two per cent, at nearly US$2016 per ounce.