Australian, NZ Dollars Appreciate Before Fed Decision
September 16 2020 - 2:08AM
RTTF2
The Australian and NZ dollars firmed against their major
counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as investors
awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision amid
hopes that it will maintain its accommodative stance for the
foreseeable future.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged
when it ends its two-day meeting later in the day.
The policy statement is due out at 2 pm ET, followed by remarks
from Powell a half-hour later.
Investors focus on further details on the bank's new inflation
targeting strategy that will keep interest rates lower for a
prolonged period.
The Fed funds futures project implied rates pinned down near
zero through 2023.
The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England will deliver their
policy decisions on Thursday.
Data from Statistics New Zealand showed that New Zealand logged
a seasonally adjusted current account surplus of NZ$482 million in
the second quarter of 2020
That was shy of expectations for NZ$595 million and down from
NZ$1.56 billion in the three months prior.
The kiwi strengthened to near a 2-week high of 0.6744 against
the greenback, from a low of 0.6703 hit at 9:15 pm ET. If the kiwi
continues its rise, 0.70 is possibly seen as its next resistance
level.
After falling to a 5-day low of 70.58 at 8:15 pm ET, the kiwi
edged up to 70.98 against the yen. The kiwi is poised to challenge
resistance around the 72.00 region.
Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan recorded a
merchandise trade surplus of 248.299 billion yen in August.
That was well above expectations for a deficit of 37.5 billion
following the 11.6 billion yen surplus in July.
The kiwi climbed to near a 2-week high of 1.7596 against the
euro at 2:55 am ET and held steady afterwards. The pair had closed
Tuesday's deals at 1.7643.
The kiwi recovered to 1.0865 versus the aussie, from its Asian
session's low of 1.0883. On the upside, resistance is likely seen
near the 1.06 level. The aussie advanced to 0.7333 against the
greenback, 0.9652 against the loonie and 77.13 against the yen,
recovering from its early lows of 0.7288 and 0.9619 and a 1-week
low of 76.73, respectively. The next likely resistance for the
aussie is seen around 0.75 against the greenback, 0.98 against the
loonie and 80.00 against the yen.
The aussie held steady against the euro, following an advance to
1.6183 in Asian trading. At Tuesday's close, the pair was trading
at 1.6224.
Looking ahead, Canada inflation data for August, U.S. business
inventories data for July, NAHB housing market index for September
and retail sales for August will be released in the New York
session.
At 2:00 pm ET, the Fed announces its decision on interest rate.
Economists widely expect the federal funds rate to be kept at
0-0.25 percent.
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