By: DailyForex.com
The Australian Dollar touched on a 3-week peak against the US Dollar. That came in the wake of a one-two punch of better than expected inflation data and calmer equity markets which helped to list investors’ appetite for higher risk currencies. Unexpectedly upbeat inflation data also helped the Kiwi Dollar against the greenback in early trade. The recent recovery in oil prices, albeit small and perhaps fleeting, also gave the Kiwi some support.
As reported at 10:38 am (GMT) in London, the AUD/USD pair was trading at $0.7039, a gain of 0.50%; in today’s trading the pair has ranged from $0.6992 to $0.7052. The NZD/USD was just off its opening price at $0.6502, a gain of 0.06%. The pair’s session low was at $0.6471 while the peak was at $0.6520.
Policy Decisions Loom Markets
Later today, the Kiwi Dollar could see some volatility ahead of the RBNZ’s interest rate decision. Analysts largely believe, however, that the New Zealand central bank will leave rates unchanged at this time at the current 2.5%. On the other side of the world, the Federal Reserve retains the focus of the markets’ interest with a rate decision announcement coming later today. Analysts don’t foresee a major policy change at this juncture until the Fed has had a chance to analyze the repercussions to and possible outlook for the US economy given the recent turbulence in the world’s financial markets.