The Australian and the New Zealand dollars weakened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as regional investors are resorting to profit taking after recent gains.

Meanwhile, commodity prices fell amid fears of a slowdown in China and the uncertainty over the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hike.

China's manufacturing conditions deteriorated the most in six-and-a-half years in September as orders declined sharply on weak foreign demand, results of a private sector survey revealed Thursday.

A Labor Department report showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits to have increased more than expected in the week ended September 26. Meanwhile, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector dropped to a two-year low in September, partly reflecting concerns about the global economy and customer confidence.

Traders await the U.S. employment data due later in the day to get some clues on the possible timing of the first Fed rate hike.

The report is expected to show an increase of about 203,000 jobs in September following the addition of 173,000 jobs in August. The jobs data could have a significant impact on expectations regarding whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.

Meanwhile, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars rose after the release of Australian retail sales data but retreated shortly after.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month in August, worth A$24.404 billion.That was in line with forecasts following the 0.1 percent contraction in July.

In other economic news, data from ANZ showed that commodity prices in New Zealand increased for the first time in six months in September, driven by increases in dairy and aluminium prices. The ANZ commodity prize index climbed 5.5 percent month-over-month in September, reversing a 5.2 percent decrease in the previous month.

Thursday, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars weakened against their major rivals after the release of the Chinese manufacturing data that was not as worse as feared. The Australian dollar rose 0.66 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.44 percent against the yen and 0.30 percent against the euro. The NZ dollar rose 0.67 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.62 percent against the yen and 0.14 percent against the euro.

In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar fell to an 8-day low of 0.9283 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.9326. The aussie may test support near the 0.91 area.

The aussie dropped to 84.13 against the yen and 1.5957 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 84.26 and 1.5916, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 82.00 against the yen and 1.63 against the euro.

Against the U.S. and the New Zealand dollars, the aussie edged down to 0.7018 and 1.0964 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7026 and 1.0976, respectively. On the downside, 0.68 against the greenback and 1.08 against the kiwi are seen as the next support levels for the aussie.

The NZ dollar fell to 2-day lows of 0.6384 against the U.S. dollar and 1.7523 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6394 and 1.7491, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.62 against the greenback and 1.80 against the euro.

Against the yen, the kiwi edged down to 76.59 from yesterday's closing value of 76.69. The kiwi is likely to find support around the 74.00 area.

Looking ahead, Markit/CIPS U.K. construction PMI for September and Eurozone PPI for August are due to be released later in th day.

In the New York session, U.S. jobs data for September and factory orders for August are slated for release.

At 8:45 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is scheduled to give opening remarks before the "New Perspectives on Consumer Behavior in Credit and Payments Markets" conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Half-an-hour later, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is expected to speak on the economy and monetary policy before a Shadow Open Market Committee meeting hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, in New York.

At 1:30 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren will give welcome and opening remarks before the "Macro Prudential Monetary Policy" conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Additionally, Federal Reserve Governor Stanley Fischer is expected to speak at the conference.

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