The Australian dollar was poised to end the week on a downbeat note, having slid far from an eight-month high in a choppy week - a stark contrast with the much less eventful experience of its New Zealand counterpart. The Aussie last traded at $0.9356, not far from a two-week low of $0.9327 plumbed overnight. It was down 0.7 percent so far this week and more than one percent off Tuesday's eight-month high of $0.9505. If sustained, this would be its biggest weekly fall in over a month.
Still ringing loudly in traders' ears were comments by Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens describing the local currency as "overvalued by any metric" and suggesting investors were underestimating the risk of a sharp correction at some stage. Stevens's remarks on Thursday were well-timed, coming as they did just hours before the closely watched US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) that blew past most forecasts and sparked a broad rally in the greenback. The New Zealand dollar traded at $0.8745, having slid as far as $0.8718 overnight. Over the week, it was down 0.4 percent.
"The key consideration for traders going forward is whether the strong NFP print and decline in the headline unemployment rate will bring forward a hike from the Fed," said David de Ferranti, analyst at FXCM in Sydney. "With broader measures of labour market strength including the pace of wage growth remaining subdued, we may see policymakers remain steadfast in their preference for low rates for some time. This in turn could leave the US dollar lacking fuel to continue its recovery."
Immediate support for the Aussie is seen at $0.9323, the 61.8 percent retracement level of its $0.9210-0.9505 rally from late May to early July. Yet, the kiwi remained within reach of $0.8779, its highest since August 2011. It remains underpinned by its growing yield advantage as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to again raise interest rates later this month. Market participants, however, are becoming wary of excessive strength in the currency, particularly given an ongoing slide in global prices for dairy, the country's biggest export earner.
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