The Australian dollar on Wednesday rose further above a recent six-month trough, driven in part by talk of future flows related to multi-billion dollar M&A deals, while its New Zealand cousin made a new one-month top. The Australian dollar climbed as far as $0.7580 overnight, a level not seen since December 6. It was last up 0.2 percent at $0.7573.
The Aussie hit a six-month trough of $0.7501 last week but has since crept up steadily. The latest lurch higher came after Europe's biggest property firm Unibail-Rodamco said it will buy mall operator Westfield for $16 billion in what would be the biggest takeover on record of an Australian company.
In a separate deal, Zurich Insurance agreed to buy Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's life insurance arm for A$2.85 billion, its biggest foray into Australia and its third in the last two years. "M&A activity has been the big driver for the Australian dollar," said Rodrigo Catril, senior forex strategist, National Australia Bank. "While the (Westfield) deal won't likely be closed until mid-2018, the FX market has moved to anticipate the associated hedging of the cash proceeds back to AUD."
Against the euro, the Aussie rose to a one-week high at A$1.5515 per euro. The US currency was also weighed down by signs Democrat Doug Jones might win in Senate race in Alabama and perhaps complicate passage of the Republicans' tax bill.
Investors next await a rate decision from the US Federal Reserve as well as its policy outlook for 2018. The Fed is considered certain to raise rates on Wednesday, but there is doubt on whether it will stick to a projection of three more hikes next year or perhaps forecast four instead.