The Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated on Thursday as equity weakness across the Asian region wore away at recent gains in a cautious environment. The Aussie dollar dipped 0.5 percent to $1.0480, dragged lower by S&P futures down 0.8 pct and Korean shares sliding 2 percent on lingering worries about global growth and sovereign debt issues.
The local currency shed more than a cent, having hit a 10-day peak overnight at $1.0601. It broke through decent buying interest around $1.0500 and stops were triggered below $1.0490. The next level of support is found at $1.0433, Wednesday's low. The Australian dollar scaled a 29-year high of $1.1081 late July. "CPI is out tonight in the US and the risk is that it would be a little softer... It would put downward pressure to the US dollar," said Capurso.
The New Zealand dollar softened to $0.8325 from $0.8372 in New York in a subdued session, after hitting a nine-day high of $0.8425 overnight. Top resistance remained at $0.8430, after failing to sustain above $0.8400, while support was seen from $0.8313. Against the kiwi, the better-performing Aussie held on to gains around NZ$1.2591, well-off last week's one-year trough of $1.2302.