Antipodean Currencies Gain Amid Rising Risk Appetite
Antipodean currencies such as the Australian and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday amid rising risk appetite following positive cues from Wall Street overnight and higher crude oil prices.
Crude oil for May delivery are currently up $0.05 at $41.71 a barrel. Oil prices rose amid hopes for a deal between OPEC and Russia to curb supplies. Meanwhile, a weak dollar contributed to oil's rise following yesterday's dovish Federal Reserve statement.
Thursday, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars rose against their major rivals on the Fed decision and higher crude oil prices.
The Australian dollar rose 1.28 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.88 percent against the yen and 0.43 percent against the euro. The NZ dollar rose 2.08 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.87 percent against the yen and 1.01 percent against the euro.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to more than a 8-1/2-month high of 0.7680 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.7643. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 0.78 area.
Against the yen, the euro and the Canadian dollar, the aussie edged up to 85.36, 1.4751 and 0.9961 from yesterday's closing quotes of 85.14, 1.4791 and 0.9922, respectively. The aussie may test resistance near 89.00 against the yen, 1.44 against the euro and 1.01 against the loonie.
The NZ dollar rose to nearly a 3-month high of 0.6874 against the U.S. dollar and an 8-day high of 1.6475 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6847 and 1.6512, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.69 against the greenback and 1.61 against the euro.
Against the yen, the kiwi advanced to 76.40 from yesterday's closing value of 76.28. The kiwi may test resistance near the 78.00 region.
The kiwi edged up to 1.1158 against the Australian dollar, from an early low of 1.1196. This may be compared to an early 1-week high of 1.1148. On the upside, 1.09 is seen as the next resistance level for the kiwi.
Looking ahead, the German PPI for February is due to be released at 3:00 am ET.
In the New York session, Canada retail sales data for January and CPI data for February, the University of Michigan's preliminary U.S. consumer sentiment index for March and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are slated for release.
At 9:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley and Fed Boston President Eric Rosengren will deliver opening remarks at the conference on bank supervision, in New York.
At 2:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is expected to speak at the International Research Forum on Monetary Policy in Frankfurt.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
