Tuesday in Asia, the Australian dollar strengthened as a rise in most Asian stocks boosted demand for higher-yielding currencies. The aussie surged up to an 11-day high against the Canadian dollar, 6-day high against the US dollar and a 4-day high against the euro.
Against the yen, the Aussie recouped its recent losses.
Buoyed by a positive close on Wall Street overnight on the back of some encouraging economic reports, the Australian stock market opened on a bright note today. Higher commodity and oil prices also contributed to the buoyant start.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is currently up 9.80 points or 0.2% at 4,907.10. The broader All Ordinaries index is now trading at 4,917.60, up 10.40 points or 0.2% over its previous close.
Among other markets in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi soared 0.3%.
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle today said movements in mortgage rates had an impact on the central bank’s monetary policy decisions.
Commercial lenders have out-hiked the RBA in recent months, doing much of the monetary tightening for the central bank.
“While interest rates on mortgages have increased relative to the cash rate, the reserve bank is able to take account of those changes in its policy deliberations,” Debelle said at an event in Sydney.
The Australian dollar climbed against the US currency in early Asian deals on Tuesday. The aussie-greenback pair is currently trading at a 6-day high of 0.9183 with 0.920 seen as the next upside target level. At Monday’s close, the pair was quoted at 0.9179.
After a brief slide, the Australian dollar rose against the euro during early Asian deals on Tuesday. The pair moved from 1.4725 to 1.4687 at 10:20 pm ET. This set a 4-day high for the Aussie. If the aussie strengthens further, it may likely target the 1.461 level. The euro-aussie pair that closed yesterday’s trading at 1.4694 is now worth 1.4693.
In early Asian deals on Tuesday, the Aussie advanced against the Canadian dollar and reached an 11-day high of 0.9381 at 8:55 pm ET. Since then, the aussie-loonie pair has been moving sideways and is presently trading near yesterday’s close of 0.9375. The next upside target level for the Australian currency is seen at 0.942.
The Aussie that slipped against the yen in early Tuesday Asian deals reversed its direction after hitting a low of 84.52 at 8:30 pm ET. Presently, the aussie-yen pair is worth 84.73, compared to Monday’s closing value of 84.86. On the upside, 84.95 is seen as the next target level for the aussie in near term.
Japan’s unemployment rate and the industrial production reports- both for February released earlier in the day likely influenced the yen.
In the upcoming European session, German February import price index and the French final fourth quarter GDP are expected.
The U.S. consumer confidence data for March, S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for January and the Canadian industrial product price report for February have been slated for release in the New York morning.