AUD / USD

Expected Range: 0..6980 - 0.7180

The Australian dollar edged upward through trade on Wednesday amid a deepening bearish trend clouding the U.S dollar. With little fundamental data on hand to drive direction the AUD was again at the mercy of global risk appetite flows and a market lacking liquidity while Chinese New Year celebrations continue. The Aussie edged through 0.71 but struggled to break above technical resistance at 0.7130 touching intraday highs at 0.7125. Despite a surprisingly upbeat commentary on Monetary Policy from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, wherein she reiterated her belief the FOMC would not be forced to move away from its current path of gradual tightening, the Aussie held onto gains throughout the back end of the North American session. Yellen, despite standing by the Fed’s current policy platform, failed to deliver a definitive timeline and thus assuage market fears interest rates will remain on hold through much if not all of 2016. Attentions today turn to the Fed Presidents second Congressional address with a hope a conclusive guideline is proffered.

NZD / USD

Expected Range: 0.6550 - 0.6750

The New Zealand dollar edged higher through trade on Wednesday benefitting from an overwhelming downturn in USD fortunes. With little fundamental data of note available to drive direction the Kiwi took advantage of continued USD weakness rallying back through 0.66 and advancing almost 100 points to touch intraday highs at 0.6690. Even Janet Yellen’s somewhat hawkish congressional testimony wasn’t enough to force a significant Kiwi sell off as the Fed President failed to convince investors additional monetary policy tightening would commence throughout the year ahead. Attentions now turn to day two of Yellen’s semi-annual monetary policy address for further guidance surrounding the Fed and FOMC’s current outlook.

GBP / AUD

Expected Range: 2.0250 - 2.0550

The Great British pound crept marginally higher through trade on Wednesday despite a larger than anticipated decline in manufacturing production. Having touched intraday highs at 1.4577 Sterling quickly pared gains tumbling 130 points in response to the softer than expected print before supports at 1.4450 kicked in ahead of FOMC and Fed chair Janet Yellen’s Congressional testimony. While adopting a somewhat hawkish tone that reiterated the Fed’s current policy of gradual tightening the Fed President failed to give any firm indication of when the next round of tightening would commence. Sterling partially recovered earlier losses edging through 1.45 and opens this morning buying 1.4519 U.S. Attentions today turn to the U.S as Yellen moves into day two of her monetary policy declaration.

USD, EUR, JPY

The U.S dollar continued in its struggle to break a bear cycle that has seen the world’s base currency touch near 4 month lows amid speculation a global economic slowdown will waylay future Federal Reserve interest rate increases. The U.S dollar index has given up over 3% since the start of the month as investors’ expectations drift away from Fed guidance. The Japanese Yen hit a 15 month high through trade on Wednesday touching 113.71 marking a 6% advance throughout February thus far and highlighting the current demand for haven assets. Tumbling commodity prices, stagnant global growth and instability across European banks have pushed investors to sell down risk correlated assets buying back into the Yen, CHF and Euro. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen offered some respite to Greenback bulls adopting a surprisingly upbeat and hawkish tone in her Semi-annual address to Congress on Monetary Policy. Yellen suggested there was no reason for the FOMC to reverse its current policy of gradual tightening, confident the outlook for the US economy remained strong. The Fed President highlighted continued labour market and wage growth as drivers for consumer spending and an improvement in the longer-term inflation outlook. The comments helped reverse the downtrend and the U.S dollar edged higher against a basket of currency. Attentions today turn to day two of Yellen’s congressional address and unemployment claims as the key fundamental drivers governing direction. 

IMPORTANT: This information has been prepared for distribution over the internet and without taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of any particular person. Oz Forex Foreign Exchange makes no recommendations as to the merits of any financial product referred to in this website, emails or its related websites. Please read our Product Disclosure Statement and our Financial Services Guide.

Regulated in Australia by ASIC (AFS Licence number 226 484)
© 2010 Copyright Oz Forex Foreign Exchange Pty Ltd ABN 65 092-375-703
OzForex Foreign Exchange Services

Member of FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service)
Full Member of AFMA (Australian Financial Markets Association)

Recommended Content


Recommended Content

Editors’ Picks

USD/JPY pops and drops on BoJ's expected hold

USD/JPY pops and drops on BoJ's expected hold

USD/JPY reverses a knee-jerk spike to 142.80 and returns to the red below 142.50 after the Bank of Japan announced on Friday that it maintained the short-term rate target in the range of 0.15%-0.25%, as widely expected. Governor Ueda's press conference is next in focus.  

USD/JPY News
AUD/USD bears attack 0.6800 amid PBOC's status-quo, cautious mood

AUD/USD bears attack 0.6800 amid PBOC's status-quo, cautious mood

AUD/USD attacks 0.6800 in Friday's Asian trading, extending its gradual retreat after the PBOC unexpectedly left mortgage lending rates unchanged in September. A cautious market mood also adds to the weight on the Aussie. Fedspeak eyed. 

AUD/USD News
Gold consolidates near record high, bullish potential seems intact

Gold consolidates near record high, bullish potential seems intact

Gold price regained positive traction on Thursday and rallied back closer to the all-time peak touched the previous day in reaction to the Federal Reserve's decision to start the policy easing cycle with an oversized rate cut.

Gold News
Ethereum rallies over 6% following decision to split Pectra upgrade into two phases

Ethereum rallies over 6% following decision to split Pectra upgrade into two phases

In its Consensus Layer Call on Thursday, Ethereum developers decided to split the upcoming Pectra upgrade into two batches. The decision follows concerns about potential risks in shipping the previously approved series of Ethereum improvement proposals.

Read more
Bank of Japan set to keep rates on hold after July’s hike shocked markets

Bank of Japan set to keep rates on hold after July’s hike shocked markets

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target between 0.15% and 0.25% on Friday, following the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy review. The decision is set to be announced during the early Asian session. 

Read more
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.

Read More

Majors

Cryptocurrencies

Signatures