The Australian and New Zealand dollars lost some ground against their US counterpart on Friday, but the Antipodeans notched hefty gains for the week against the shell-shocked sterling and yen. The Australian dollar eased to $0.8693, from $0.8723 in early trade and a peak of $0.8765 touched on Thursday. Not helping the currency was news Glencore, the world's largest exporter of thermal coal, would temporarily shut its Australian coal production to help ease a supply glut.
Coal is Australia's second largest export earner after iron ore. Resistance for the Aussie dollar was found at $0.8720 and support at $0.8680. It touched a four-year low of $0.8540 earlier this month. Still, the Aussie was on track for a 0.7 percent gain this week, largely due to a steep drop in the yen and sterling. The pound dived to a two-month low of A$1.7976 and NZ$1.9865 after markets pushed back the timing of a likely rate rise in the UK. It was last at NZ$1.9947, having tumbled 2.5 percent for the week.
The kiwi made an even larger leap versus a battered yen to be at 91.20. It rose nearly 3 percent this week to hit the highest in seven years. The Aussie touched an 18-month peak of 101.01, having gained 9 yen since mid-October thanks to the Bank of Japan's ultra-loose policy. Across the Tasman sea, the New Zealand dollar was consolidating around $0.7870 and showing an increase of 1.4 percent so far this week. "The NZ dollar feels like it has the potential to grind higher over the day although we believe it will be capped at $0.7920," said ASB analysts in a note, adding that they favoured selling rallies to $0.8000.
Support was seen at $0.7840, the 20-day moving average, and then $0.7790. New Zealand government bonds rose, sending yields as much as 3.5 basis points lower. Australian government bond futures edged up, with the three-year bond contract up 2 ticks at 97.400. The 10-year contract added 2.5 ticks to 96.660.
Comments
Comments are closed.