Forex News: Antipodean Currencies Slide Amid Risk-off Mood

Antipodean Currencies Slide Amid Risk-off Mood

(RTTNews) - The antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday amid increasing risk-off mood by the investors, with continued weakness in energy stocks as well as technology stocks on uncertainty remains about AI spending and the possibility of a tech bubble. Traders were also reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key U.S. economic data in the coming days, including retail sales and inflation.

The new data could impact the outlook for interest rates following the US Fed's monetary policy announcement last Wednesday. While the Fed cut rates by another quarter point, as widely expected, officials' projections showed significant differences of opinion about further rate cuts.

The NZ dollar underperformed against other currencies after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Anna Breman reduced market expectations for rate increases in 2026.

The bank's policy rate forecast "indicates a slight probability of another rate cut in the near term," Breman warned. However, the OCR is likely to stay at its current level of 2.25% for a while if economic conditions develop as anticipated.

In economic news, data from S&P Global showed that Australia's composite index continued to expand in December, albeit at a slower pace, with a composite PMI score of 51.1. That's down from 52.6 in November.

The survey also showed that the manufacturing index improved to 52.2 from 51.6 in November, while the services PMI fell to 51.0 from 52.8.

Crude oil prices retreated as lingering oversupply concerns offset worries about potential supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.62 or 1.1 percent to $56.82 per barrel.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to near 2-week lows of 102.52 against the yen and 1.7752 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 103.07 and 1.7700, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 100.00 against the yen and 1.79 against the euro.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie dropped to a 1-week low of 0.6618 and nearly a 3-week low of 0.9120 from Monday's closing quotes of 0.6641 and 0.9143, respectively. On the downside, 0.64 against the greenback and 0.90 against the loonie are seen as the next support levels for the aussie.

The NZ dollar fell to an 8-day low of 0.5759 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.5781. The kiwi may test support near the 0.56 region.

Against the yen and the euro, the kiwi slid to nearly a 2-week low of 89.23 and nearly a 3-week low of 2.0403 from Monday's closing quotes of 89.73 and 2.0331, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 88.00 against the yen and 2.07 against the euro.

The kiwi edged down to 1.1500 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.1487. On the downside, 1.16 is seen as the next support level for the kiwi.

Looking ahead, PMI reports from various European economies and U.K. for December, German ZEW economic sentiment index for December are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. jobs data for November, retail sales for October, U.S. S&P Global manufacturing PMI for December are slated for release in the New York session.

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