Thursday, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars fell against their major opponents on the back of a slide in stocks.
The aussie slipped to a 2-day low against the dollar, the yen and the Canadian dollar, 1-week low against the euro and a 9-day low against the New Zealand dollar.
Asian and European stocks declined today as the Federal Reserve yesterday cut its growth forecast, U.S. retail sales declined and China's economic growth eased.
Although the Australian and the New Zealand dollars advanced immediately after the release of various Chinese economic reports at 10:00 pm ET in Asian deals, they pared gains shortly as a weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data added to uncertainty over the global economic outlook.
In Asia, Australia's All ordinaries index was down 0.46% and S&P 200 index slipped 0.4%, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.10%, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.4% and New Zealand's NZSE 50 index declined 0.8%. At the same time, Hong Kong's Hang seng dropped 1.4% and China's Shangai Composite index fell 1.9%.
In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 0.4% in early deals, France's CAC 40 index plunged 0.4% and U.K.'s FTSE 10 index lost 0.5%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia sold a net A$1.23 billion in the foreign exchange market in June, figures released by the central bank showed today. The bank had sold a net A$446 million in May.
The RBA bought a net A$1.36 billion in the forex market from the Australian government in June. A net A$488 million was bought from the government in the previous month.
Meanwhile, a survey from the Melbourne institute showed that consumers in Australia expected a modest decrease in inflation in July.
The Institute's survey, showed the median inflation expectation fell to 3.3 percent in July from 3.4 percent in June.
The Australian dollar slipped against the currencies of Japan, Canada and U.S. during Thursday's early European deals. Presently, the aussie is trading at a 2-day low of 77.18 against the yen, 0.9079 against the loonie and 0.8763 against the greenback, compared to yesterday's closing quotes of 78.34, 0.9136 and 0.8854, respectively.
If the aussie falls further, it may target 72.70 against the yen, 0.899 against the loonie and 0.869 against the greenback.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday afternoon released the minutes of its June policy meeting, stating that the economic recovery is softer than initially expected, although not enough to warrant additional quantitative easing. Despite the slowdown in the pace of the recovery, no Fed officials forecast a double dip.
The Fed also downwardly revised its growth and inflation projections for 2011 and 2012 while forecasting a higher unemployment rate in 2011.
The Bank of Japan has sharply revised up its FY2010 growth forecast for the economy, reflecting an acceleration of growth in emerging economies. The policy board of the central also unanimously decided to retain the overnight call rate at 0.10%, in line with market expectations.
The BOJ now expects the Japanese economy to grow 2.6% this fiscal year, faster than the 1.8% expansion predicted in April. Growth is tipped to slow to 1.9% in the next fiscal year.
The aussie fell against the common currency of Europe in early deals on Thursday. Currently, the aussie is trading at a 1-week low of 1.4518 against the euro with 1.502 seen as the next downside target level. At yesterday's close, the aussie was worth 1.4400 against the euro.
Currently, the aussie-kiwi pair is trading at a 9-day low of 1.2202, down 0.23% from yesterday's close of 1.2231. On the downside, the aussie may target around the 1.214 level.
Against the euro, the kiwi is now trading at a low of 1.7690, compared to an early Asian session's 2-week high of 1.7594. If the kiwi weakens further, it may target around the 1.775 level.
The New Zealand dollar fell to 63.20 against the yen at 3:30 am ET. At present, the kiwi-yen pair is trading at 63.32, down from yesterday's closing quote of 64.13. The kiwi may target around the 62.60 level in near term, if it falls further.
The New Zelaland dollar lost ground against its U.S. rival in early European session on Thursday. As of now, the kiwi-greenback pair is trading at 0.7197 and this level may be compared to 0.7247 hit at yesterday's close. The kiwi may target around the 0.716 level, if it slides further.
Statistics Canada will release its manufacturing shipments and motor vehicle sales data for May at 8:30 am ET.
The U.S. PPI for June, weekly jobless claims data for the week ended July 10, industrial production for June, results of the New York Federal Reserve's empire state manufacturing survey and the results of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey for July are slated for release in the New York morning.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.