Australia Holds Key Interest Rate on U.S., Asian Optimism

Australia’s central bank reiterated it has scope to cut interest rates as Europe remains a potential source of shocks “for some time yet,” sending the nation’s currency to the lowest level in 1 1/2 weeks.

Governor Glenn Stevens and his board left the overnight cash-rate target at 4.25 percent, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement in Sydney today, using a phrase he employed last month by calling policy “appropriate for the moment.”