The Australian and New Zealand dollars sank against the Japanese yen on Wednesday as financial markets took fright on the prospect of a shock win for Republican Donald Trump in a closely contested US election battle. Markets see Democrat Hillary Clinton as a safer pair of hands and the candidate of the status quo, while there is a high degree of uncertainty about Trump's policies on geopolitics, trade and immigration.
The Aussie dropped 5.9 percent on the yen, the biggest fall since May 2010. It slipped 4 percent on the Swiss francs and also underperformed against the euro, which soared more 4 percent. The Australian dollar fell 2.14 percent against the greenback to hit a 1-1/2 week low of $0.7580. It broke below key chart resistance of 77 US cents in early afternoon trading, after comfortably staying above that level for 3 straight days.
It marked the biggest daily percentage loss for the Aussie since May 3. The New Zealand dollar skidded 1 percent to $0.7303, following two straight days of gains. It is the Kiwi's biggest drop since September 13. The Kiwi tumbled nearly 5 percent on the yen while the euro rose more than 3.5 percent on the New Zealand currency.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand holds its policy meeting on Thursday where it is widely expected to cut interest rates to a record low 1.75 percent. New Zealand government bonds fell with yields up about 1 basis point across the curve. Australian government bond futures surged to multi-week highs, with the three-year bond contract up 12 ticks at 98.43, the highest since October 7. The 10-year contract jumped 11.5 ticks to a one-month peak of 97.79. "If Trump is declared this afternoon as the winner (it is) sufficient to take the Aussie down to 75 US cents," said Ray Attrill, global co-head of FX strategy, National Australia Bank , Sydney.