The Australian dollar hit its low for the year on Thursday as quarter-end demand lifted its US counterpart and combined with weakness in commodity prices to shove the currency close to a major chart bulwark. The Aussie dollar was labouring at $0.7647, after sinking under $0.7670/75 support and touching its lowest since mid-December.
The kiwi dollar was holed up at $0.7193, having lost 1.1 percent overnight in a sharp correction from the week's $0.7304 peak. Major chart support lies at its March trough of $0.7154. Aussie bears were now eyeing a long-term trendline that stretched all the way back to early 2016 when the currency cratered under $0.6900. This thin line of support currently comes in around $0.7600/10 and a breach would open the door for a much deeper retreat.
In the bond markets, yields on Australian 10-year paper held at 2.59 percent having hit a three-month low on Wednesday. The three-year bond future dipped 2 ticks to 97.875, while the 10-year contract added 1 tick to 97.4050. New Zealand government bonds eased in price, lifting yields 3 basis points at the long end of the curve.
"If it breaks, then the December low at 75 cents is next in line, with $0.7475 below that and then $0.7322," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader. "$0.7130 has offered decent support over the past couple of years as well." Indeed, there was a risk of a real rout should the latest setback in US stocks, and particularly the tech sector, morph into something nastier, he added.
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