AUD/USD remains muted around 0.6500 despite stagnant Australian Retail Sales

• AUD/USD has not shown any move despite the release of stagnant Australian Retail Sales data.
• Weak Australian households’ demand would impact Australian inflation ahead.
• Fed Collins cited that while inflation is still too high, there are some promising signs of moderation.

The AUD/USD pair as the Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported stagnant monthly Retail Sales data (April). The street was anticipating an expansion by 0.2% while previously it expanded by 0.4%. A decline in households demand is expected to strengthen the odds of a neutral interest rate policy stance by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for June’s monetary policy meeting.

In May’s monetary policy meeting, RBA Governor Philip Low hiked interest rates surprisingly by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.85%. RBA believed that the current monetary policy is not restrictive enough to tame sticky inflation.

S&P500 futures have posted some losses in early Asia, portraying anxiety among investors inspired by continuous delay in US debt-ceiling negotiations. Republican delegates are not agreeing on higher spending in the budget if the White House wants to raise the current $31.4 trillion US borrowing cap.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) has extended its correction after analyzing signs of exhaustion in the upside momentum. The USD Index has faced barricades in extending its upside above 104.31. It seems that investors have started shifting focus on expectations over Federal Reserve’s (Fed) June policy meeting.

Boston Fed Bank President Susan Collins said on Thursday that the Fed “may be at or near” the time to pause interest rate increases, as reported by Reuters. She further added, “While inflation is still too high, there are some promising signs of moderation,”