Asian Currencies Gain as Dollar Weakens on Fed Afterglow
Huileng Tan @huileng_tan
Asian currencies are rallying in the aftermath of U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's dovish comments on Tuesday, sending the greenback down amid a raft of positive data.
The jumps are large: The Australian and New Zealand dollar, which are both commodity-linked currencies, were near their nine-month peaks on Thursday.
The Malaysian ringgit also climbed to a new seven-month high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday; the country is an exporter of oil and natural gas. The country's private consumption is also expected to grow and remain resilient this year while manufactured exports will be supported by the U.S. and a competitive ringgit, Nomura analysts said in a report Wednesday.
"Markets are still feeling the reverberations of Yellen's dovish speech, with the U.S. dollar retreating across the board," said Mizuho Bank's forex strategist, Chang Wei Liang.
