The Australian dollar edged away from 11-year lows on Monday, as speculation mounted the world's major central banks were planning a coordinated barrage of stimulus aimed at offsetting the economic impact of the coronavirus.
The Aussie had fallen sharply late Friday as investors piled into wagers the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would cut rates at its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday.
Yet the prospect of a global response offered some support given Australia's reliance on tourism and resource exports to drive domestic growth.
Futures were now implying a 100% chance of a quarter-point cut this week, compared with just 18% last week.
A further move to 0.25% was fully priced in by June, and analysts were pondering quantitative easing steps such as the central bank buying government bonds.
All of which left the Aussie bruised at $0.6540, having lost 1.9% last week, though it was at least up from a deep low at $0.6435. There is still little in the way of chart support until a $0.6280 trough from early 2009.
The New Zealand dollar steadied at $0.6244, having shed 1.6% last week to touch lows last seen in 2009 at $0.6180.
Investors were likewise wagering the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) would be forced into cutting, even though it recently dropped its easing bias and turned neutral.
The market is more than fully priced for a quarter-point cut to 0.75% at the next meeting on March 25.
Fed funds are pricing in almost 44 basis points of US cuts this month, and 90 basis points by November.
Australian bond yields duly dropped to all-time lows with the 10-year down at 0.763%.
The three-year bond future surged to a record peak on Monday and was last up 9 ticks at 99.585.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell surprised many on Friday by issuing a statement that the bank was ready to support the US economy, and the Bank of Japan said much the same on Monday.
"This statement is likely to be seen as a "call to action" for other central banks around the world," said Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac.
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