WELLINGTON/SYDNEY: The Aussie and New Zealand dollars were on the backfoot on Tuesday as concerns about the health of the global economy weighed on risk appetite, while the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates steady and gave no hint of easing.
The Aussie slipped to a 12-day trough of $1.0494 on heavy macro-funds selling. It last traded at $1.0521, having skidded more than one percent from Monday's high.
Traders noted talk of stops below $1.0490 and $1.0400, but they said prospect of Asian central banks buying on dips has been discouraging, at least for now, aggressive attempts lower.
Support is found at the 61.8 Fibonacci retracement of the $1.0315/$1.0765 move at $1.0495, with resistance at $1.0577.
The Aussie barely reacted to a widely-expected central bank decision to keep rates on hold at 4.75 percent for the 10th straight month.
Global turbulence was the main reason, while the Reserve Bank of Australia remains upbeat on the local economy thanks to a record high terms of trade and a massive boom in mining investment.
Markets are not convinced and are fully pricing a rate cut for October and a total of 80 bps of easing by Christmas, though that is down from more than 160 bps last month.
"The RBA is certainly not considering cutting rates like markets are... The RBA's view on China's outlook is more important than what's happening in Europe," said Joseph Capurso, strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
He predicts the Aussie to trough to $1.0500 before bouncing back to $1.0700 early next week, following an upcoming address by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday.
"My guess is that Bernanke is going to make a case for policy stimulus at the September meeting... and that will lift risk appetite," he said.
Local data on gross domestic product (GDP) are due on Wednesday and are expected to show growth rebounding by around 1 percent in the second quarter. Anything weaker could hit the Aussie.
The New Zealand dollar slipped to around $0.8280, having shed more than 2 percent since Monday to hit a trough of $0.8258 on stop-loss selling.
"The kiwi has been pretty weak all day," said ASB Bank head of institutional FX sales Tim Kelleher. "The first move into Europe would be downwards. It's still a sell on rallies."
Support for the kiwi is expected around the 100-day moving average at $0.8230, while resistance comes in around $0.8348.
Weakness in stocks and commodities weighed on the Antipodeans with S&P futures 2.5 percent lower and copper falling 0.7 percent.
The Aussie edged up to NZ$1.2679, having climbed a two-week peak of NZ$1.2718 earlier in the session.
Reduced risk appetite saw the Antipodeans slipping against the safe-haven yen to near two-week lows, with the Aussie last at 80.74 yen, and the kiwi at 63.61 yen.
The kiwi dived to a two-week trough against the Swissy to 0.6483 francs, before steadying just above 0.6500.
New Zealand government bonds pulled back in the front end after recent rallies, with local yields edging higher.
Australian bond futures gained with the three-year contract up 0.04 points at 96.350 and the 10-year 0.05 points higher at 95.805.
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