The markets were mixed last week as investors digested a lot of economic data.

In the U.S. the Fed nominee Jerome Powell was on his way to become the next Federal Reserve Chairman.

Brexit was also one of the major talking points for the markets last week. Initially the optimism that the Brexit deal was near faded as talks about the Irish border broke down the negotiations. The British pound was seen trading volatile as a result.

The Bank of Canada held interest rates unchanged and the dovish forward guidance saw the sell-off in the Canadian dollar.

RBA keeps interest rates on hold

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy meeting held last week saw the key interest rates staying unchanged.

The RBA had lowered interest rates in May last year to a historic low of 1.50%.

The central bank’s monetary policy statement was also broadly unchanged from the previous month’s statement. The central bank said that the current monetary policy regime was accomodative for the economy.

The central bank also expressed optimism that the Australian economy would average an annual growth rate of 3% in the coming years.

The central bank however noted that wage growth remained low which was concerning. But the RBA was also upbeat noting that the labor market was continuing to tighten.

RBA’s Lowe said that household incomes were growing gradually and debt levels were high.

The central bank also spoke about the exchange rate noting that an appreciation in the Australian dollar could lead to slower pick up in the economy and could also delay the pace of consumer price increases.