While the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may be at the end of its easing cycle, there are few, if any, signs that the central bank there is poised to embark upon a tightening cycle.
Australia’s looser monetary policy could support the economy but weigh on the AUD. Consequently, investors may track the markets through currency-hedged ETFs that try to mitigate the negative effects of a weakening Aussie, including the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Australia ETF (NYSEArca: HAUD) and Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Australia Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBAU).
Although it appears unlikely that RBA will boost borrowing costs in the near-term, the CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (NYSEArca: FXA), which tracks the Aussie against the U.S. dollar, is up 6.6% this year. That makes FXA one of 2017’s best-performing currency ETFs.
“Differing paths for interest rates Down Under and in the U.S. is also removing something that’s been very valuable to foreign investors: Australia’s yield premium. The extra return that bond investors demand of the country’s debt relative to what they receive on U.S. Treasuries has reached the lowest in a decade and a half,” reports Bloomberg.
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