Antipodean currencies such as the Australian and the New Zealand dollars weakened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and lower commodity prices, including a more than 5 percent fall in crude oil prices.
Investors are also cautious ahead of the release of the crucial U.S. jobs data on Friday and next week's Federal Reserve meeting. Adding to expectations for an increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve next week, payroll processor ADP released a report showing a sharp jump in U.S. private sector employment in the month of February.
Crude oil futures plunged to 2017 lows on Wednesday after data showed another gargantuan build in U.S. stockpiles, adding to record inventories.
In other economic news, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that consumer prices in China were up just 0.8 percent on year in February. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 1.7 percent, and down sharply from 2.5 percent in January.
The bureau also said that producers prices spiked an annual 7.8 percent, exceeding forecasts for 7.7 percent and up from 6.9 percent in the previous month.
Wednesday, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars had fallen against their major counterparts. The Australian dollar had fallen 0.76 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.43 percent against the yen and 0.34 percent against the euro. The NZ dollar had fallen 0.57 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.25 percent against the yen and 0.44 percent against the euro.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar fell to nearly a 2-1/2-month low of 0.7514 against the U.S. dollar and a 6-day low of 1.0136 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7526 and 1.0156, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.74 against the greenback and 1.00 against the loonie.
Against the euro and the yen, the aussie dropped to a 1-month low of 1.4026 and a 9-day low of 85.96 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4000 and 86.09, respectively. The aussie may test support near 1.42 against the euro and 84.00 against the yen.
The NZ dollar fell to nearly a 3-1/2-month low of 78.95 against the yen, more than a 2-month low of 0.6901 and nearly a 2-1/2-month low of 1.5269 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 79.06, 0.6914 and 1.5245, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 77.00 against the yen, 0.68 against the greenback and 1.54 against the euro.
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi dropped to 1.0903 from yesterday's closing value of 1.0886. The kiwi is likely to find support near the 1.10 region.
Looking ahead, Swiss unemployment rate for February is due to be released in the pre-European session at 1:45 am ET.
The European Central bank is set to announce its interest rate decision at 7:45 am ET. Economists expect the central bank to maintain its deposit and refinancing rates at -0.4 percent and 0 percent, respectively.
Following the announcement, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will hold the customary post-meeting press conference.
In the New York session, Canada house price index for January, U.S. import price index for February and U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended March 4 are slated for release.
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Business News
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.