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11 Mar 2015
Asia Recap: USD in solid demand, NZD sold ahead of RBNZ
FXStreet (Bali) - The Antipodean currencies continued to perform poorly during the Asian session, with the Kiwi being the main loser, closely followed by the Australia Dollar, as the USD continues to dominate across the board.
NZD/USD printed a new low at 0.7230 after a news-driven move fueled by headlines, via Bloomberg, reporting that milk formula exporters said some orders had been reduced or halted, citing the New Zealand Infant Formula Exporters Association (NZIFEA), adding that the threat is potentially disastrous for exporters, while adding that no exports have been banned so far. NZD traders now await an expected neutral RBNZ policy meeting on Thursday.
AUD/USD made fresh multi-year lows, not seen since May 2009, with technicals ruling amid the lack of news. The only fuundamental piece of information, which saw little immediate reaction, was Australia's home loans, which came in at -3.5% for January, below forecasts of -2%, while investment lending for homes stood at -0.1% vs previous 6%. Overall, a negative input for the Aussie.
USD/JPY managed to reclaim higher ground after an initial drive sub 121.00 which served perfectly the purpose of large leveraged accounts to tap into some much needed liquidity if they were to take the pair back up. They successfully caught early sellers wrong-footed, with a low at 120.84 being followed by a robust rebound all the way to 121.48, where sizeable offers were noted.
In other fundamental news, the NZ government operating balance for the month of January came at +112.1% from a previous of 27.8%, with the monthly debt in January ar 26.1% vs 28.1% previous.
In Australia, the RBA Assistant Governor (Economic) Christopher Kent gave a speech noting that policy will continue to support economy, adding that the lower A$ is starting to help the economy to adjust, supporting demand in tradable sectors. Kent added that further easing may be appropriate.
In Japan, BoJ's Shirai commented, via Reuters, that high uncertainty exists on outlook for capex, private consumption, adding that the downtrend in Japan's growth rate could be behind sluggish pace of recovery in domestic demand.
NZD/USD printed a new low at 0.7230 after a news-driven move fueled by headlines, via Bloomberg, reporting that milk formula exporters said some orders had been reduced or halted, citing the New Zealand Infant Formula Exporters Association (NZIFEA), adding that the threat is potentially disastrous for exporters, while adding that no exports have been banned so far. NZD traders now await an expected neutral RBNZ policy meeting on Thursday.
AUD/USD made fresh multi-year lows, not seen since May 2009, with technicals ruling amid the lack of news. The only fuundamental piece of information, which saw little immediate reaction, was Australia's home loans, which came in at -3.5% for January, below forecasts of -2%, while investment lending for homes stood at -0.1% vs previous 6%. Overall, a negative input for the Aussie.
USD/JPY managed to reclaim higher ground after an initial drive sub 121.00 which served perfectly the purpose of large leveraged accounts to tap into some much needed liquidity if they were to take the pair back up. They successfully caught early sellers wrong-footed, with a low at 120.84 being followed by a robust rebound all the way to 121.48, where sizeable offers were noted.
In other fundamental news, the NZ government operating balance for the month of January came at +112.1% from a previous of 27.8%, with the monthly debt in January ar 26.1% vs 28.1% previous.
In Australia, the RBA Assistant Governor (Economic) Christopher Kent gave a speech noting that policy will continue to support economy, adding that the lower A$ is starting to help the economy to adjust, supporting demand in tradable sectors. Kent added that further easing may be appropriate.
In Japan, BoJ's Shirai commented, via Reuters, that high uncertainty exists on outlook for capex, private consumption, adding that the downtrend in Japan's growth rate could be behind sluggish pace of recovery in domestic demand.