The Australian dollar steadied around $0.669 per dollar on Friday and was on track for modest weekly gains, as renewed expectations for a potential rate hike from the Reserve Bank lent support to the currency. On Thursday, Commonwealth Bank of Australia raised owner-occupier mortgage rates by up to 0.7 percentage points, pushing its lowest two-year fixed rate to 5.79%. Macquarie Bank followed with a 0.25 percentage point increase across all fixed loan terms. These moves come after similar rate increases by Australia’s other major banks in December, underscoring growing expectations that the cash rate may remain higher for longer. Markets are now pricing in a 27% chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the RBA’s February meeting, with expectations rising sharply to around 76% by May. Meanwhile, additional support for the Australian dollar came from a rise in global stocks, particularly Australian shares, which rallied for a fifth consecutive session and hovered near a two-month high.