Aussie Drops As Weak Capex Data Fans Rate Cut Hopes
February 25 2015 - 10:48PM
RTTF2
The Australian dollar weakened against the other major
currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as the weak
fourth-quarter private capex data led to speculation of an interest
rate cut next week.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the
total private capital expenditure in Australia was down a
seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of
2014, coming in at A$37.465 billion. This was steeper than the 1.6
percent drop expected by economists.
This has reinforced expectations among the markets that the
Reserve Bank of Australia could cut March cash rate again at its
next week's monetary policy meeting.
The Australian stock markets were also lower. The Australia's
benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is currently down 39.30 points or
0.66 percent at 5,905. The broader All Ordinaries index is also
currently down 35.10 points or 0.59 percent at 5,873.
Wednesday, the Australian dollar rose against the other major
currencies on better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data. The
Australian dollar rose 0.81 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.79
percent against the yen, 0.51 percent against the euro and 0.02
percent against the NZ dollar.
In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to a
6-day low of 0.9748 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's
closing value of 0.9803. The aussie is likely to find support
around the 0.95 area.
The aussie dropped to 2-day lows of 1.4501 against the euro and
1.0378 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of
1.4403 and 1.0430, respectively. If the aussie extends its
downtrend, it is likely to find support 1.49 against the euro and
1.02 against the kiwi.
Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the aussie edged down to
0.7835 and 93.28 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7885 and
93.72, respectively. On the downside, 0.76 against the greenback
and 90.40 against the yen are seen as the next support levels for
the aussie.
Looking ahead , the German GfK consumer sentiment index for
March is due to be released at 2:00 am ET.
Switzerland's fourth quarter industrial production, the German
unemployment rate for February, Eurozone business climate index,
economic sentiment index -both for February and M3 money supply for
January and second estimate of U.K.'s fourth quarter GDP and index
of services for December are set to be published.
In the New York session, Canada and U.S. CPI for January, U.S.
house price index for December, durable goods orders for January
and U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended February 21 are
slated for release.
At 12:30 am ET, Bank of England Deputy Governor Nemat Shafik
will deliver a speech at the University of Warwick, in
Coventry.
After half-an-hour, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
President Dennis Lockhart is expected to speak about economic
outlook and monetary policy at the Federal Reserve's 2015 Banking
Outlook Conference, in Atlanta. Subsequently, U.S. Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher will give a lecture on
"Reflections on 10 Years at the Fed: Through the Financial Crisis"
at event hosted by the Imperial College of London Brevan Howard
Centre for Financial Analysis & the Centre for Economic Policy
Research in London, England at 1:15 pm ET.
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