AGL 39.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.42 (-1.05%)
AIRLINK 131.22 Increased By ▲ 2.16 (1.67%)
BOP 6.81 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.89%)
CNERGY 4.71 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (4.9%)
DCL 8.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.29%)
DFML 41.47 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (1.59%)
DGKC 82.09 Increased By ▲ 1.13 (1.4%)
FCCL 33.10 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (1.01%)
FFBL 72.87 Decreased By ▼ -1.56 (-2.1%)
FFL 12.26 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (4.43%)
HUBC 110.74 Increased By ▲ 1.16 (1.06%)
HUMNL 14.51 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (5.53%)
KEL 5.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-2.26%)
KOSM 7.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.42%)
MLCF 38.90 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.78%)
NBP 64.01 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (0.79%)
OGDC 192.82 Decreased By ▼ -1.87 (-0.96%)
PAEL 25.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.12%)
PIBTL 7.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.68%)
PPL 154.07 Decreased By ▼ -1.38 (-0.89%)
PRL 25.83 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.16%)
PTC 17.81 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (1.77%)
SEARL 82.30 Increased By ▲ 3.65 (4.64%)
TELE 7.76 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.27%)
TOMCL 33.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-0.8%)
TPLP 8.49 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.07%)
TREET 16.62 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (2.15%)
TRG 57.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-1.41%)
UNITY 27.51 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.07%)
WTL 1.37 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.44%)
BR100 10,504 Increased By 59.3 (0.57%)
BR30 31,226 Increased By 36.9 (0.12%)
KSE100 98,080 Increased By 281.6 (0.29%)
KSE30 30,559 Increased By 78 (0.26%)

The Australian and New Zealand dollars hovered near multi-week peaks on Thursday as a rally in metals combined with low volatility globally and a soft greenback encouraged leveraged plays in higher-yielding assets. Australia's commodity-driven currency edged up 0.1 percent to $0.7778, within kissing distance from Wednesday's high of $0.7779 - a level not visited since October 24.
The Aussie is seen ending the year about 8 percent higher, reversing the losing streak of the past four years. Trade was light across the board as many market participants were on holiday.
The New Zealand dollar also joined the party, climbing as far as $0.7077 - a level not seen since mid-October. The kiwi dollar is up 2 percent for the year, almost matching its lacklustre performance in 2016.
The yield premium demanded to hold Aussie 10-year debt over US Treasuries has widened to 27 basis points from as low as 8 basis points in late November. New Zealand government bonds rose in line with US Treasuries, sending yields about 4 basis points lower at the long-end and 2-3 basis points lower at the short-end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures edged higher too, with the three-year bond contract up half a tick at 97.805. The 10-year contract rose 2.5 ticks to 97.3050. Thursday's gains came as copper, seen as a barometer for global growth, held near a four-year high. Gold prices hovered close to a one-month top while oil was not far from this week's 2-1/2 year peak.
Australia is a major exporter of natural gas, metals and iron ore, so higher prices for these commodities add to the country's national income.

Comments

Comments are closed.