AUSTRALIA, NZ DOLLAR STAY SUPPORTED AFTER STEEP CORRECTION

Published on Dec 06, 2023 13:07

The Australian and New Zealand currencies are seen supported by over half a percent on Wednesday after a sharp correction in the past two sessions. Both the pairs slipped from a four month high earlier this week owing to dollar strength. The dollar index, that measures the greenback against a basket of currencies rallied in the past two sessions to reach its best level in two weeks and is currently quoting at 103.96. After an optimistic batch of data from US overnight, investors are staying cautious ahead of US non-farm payrolls later this week. US JOLTS job openings slid to 8.73 million in October from 9.35 million in September, falling to the lowest level since March 2021 and reflecting a cooling job market. Meanwhile, the ISM said its services PMI crept up to 52.7 in November from 51.8 in October, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Reversal in the greenback coupled with sharply higher equities is seen benefiting gains in the pairs. The S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 1.65% to close at 7,178 on Wednesday, hitting its highest levels in 11 weeks. New Zealand stock market also advanced 106.5 points or 0.94% to finish at 11,463.49 reaching its highest in three months. AUDUSD is quoting at 0.6591, up 0.56% on the day. Beside an uptrend in dollar overseas, RBA dovish stance this week also limited gains in this pair. Meanwhile, NZDUSD was up 0.69% at 0.6172.