A day following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate cutting announcement which sent the Australian Dollar markedly lower, the Aussie gets a reprieve on unexpectedly improved trade data from China which is its primary export destination. According to the news release, both imports and exports rose in April on a year-over-year basis, which helped to alleviate investors’ concerns over a slowdown in the Chinese economy, the second largest in the world after the U.S., and the overall health of the global economy.
As reported at 12:48 p.m.(JST) in Tokyo, the AUD/USD pair was holding steady at $1.0182, edging away from the 2-month trough of $1.0155 which had been set yesterday. The RBA dropped their cash rate to 2.75% effective today, and more rate cuts could be seen in the future if the Australian economy fails to improve as the RBA announcement specifically pointed out that there was scope available given their inflation target. The AUD/JPY pair was also holding steady, trading at 100.83 Yen and moving off the session low of 10.36 Yen.
The New Zealand Dollar was seen as a major under performer, down 0.6% against the U.S. Dollar after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced that it had intentionally sold the Kiwi off in order to devalue the currency. The RBNZ’s intervention resulted in the NZD/USD trading recently at $0.8401, coming off an earlier struck trough of $0.8360.
Aussie Steadies as Kiwi Falls on RBNZ Action
After working on Wall Street, Barb began her second career as a freelance writer at Daily Forex, where the CEO recognized fresh, untapped potential and was willing to give her a try. She’s never looked back. Since then, she’s worked steadily as a freelance writer and editor in the financial services and Forex-related industry.
... Read more After working on Wall Street, Barb began her second career as a freelance writer at Daily Forex, where the CEO recognized fresh, untapped potential and was willing to give her a try. She’s never looked back. Since then, she’s worked steadily as a freelance writer and editor in the financial services and Forex-related industry.