AUD/USD gives of intraday gains, Aussie/US inflation in focus

• AUD/USD gives up a majority of intraday gains while the US Dollar remains on the backfoot.
• The US Dollar weakened as US Trump nominated veteran hedge-fund manager Bessent as Treasury Secretary.
• Investors await the monthly Aussie inflation data for fresh RBA interest rate guidance.

The AUD/USD pair surrenders a majority of its intraday gains after facing selling pressure near the intraday high of 0.6550 in Monday's North American session. The Aussie pair drops even though the US Dollar (USD) wobbles near the intraday low, suggesting that the Australian Dollar (AUD) is also performing weakly.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback's value against six major currencies, corrects to near 106.80 after posting a fresh two-year high of 108.00 on Friday.

The Greenback had a negative start at the open on Monday as President-elect Donald Trump chose hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary. The market reaction to the news appeared positive for risky assets while the US Dollar and bond yields were hit badly.

However, analysts at MUFG commented that Monday's dollar depreciation is a temporary correction after Friday's steep gains. Bessent has indicated "a possible more balanced approach" to trade tariffs. However, this won't change prospects of the United States (US) economy performing much better than others.

This week investors will focus on the US Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE) data for October to get fresh interest rate guidance, which will be published on Wednesday. Investors will pay close attention to the core PCE inflation data, a Federal Reserve's (Fed) preferred inflation gauge, which is estimated to have grown by 2.8%, faster than 2.7% in September.

Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar (AUD) will be guided by the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for October, which will be published on Wednesday. Economists estimate the inflation data to have risen at a faster pace of 2.3% from 2.1% in September. The inflation data will significantly influence market expectations for Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate path. Currently, the RBA is expected to leave its Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 4.35% by the year-end.