The Australian dollar showed mixed performance against its major rivals in early Asian trading on Wednesday. While the aussie spiked higher against the NZ dollar due to across the board weakening of the latter, it moved off its recently hit fresh 11-week low against the US dollar and a 16-day low versus the euro.
The aussie that plummeted to a new 11-week low of 0.8746 against the US dollar around 5:40 pm ET reversed its course thereafter. The domestic unit then inched higher to 0.8771 against the greenback by 7:00 pm, compared to 0.8761 hit late New York Tuesday. In near-term, the aussie-buck pair may find its upside target level around 0.878.
The dollar gained yesterday after the National Association of Realtors said in a report that existing home sales rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units in November from a revised 6.09 million in October. Economists had expected existing home sales to rise to 6.25 million from the 6.10 originally reported for the previous month.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that economic activity in the third quarter expanded at a much slower than previously anticipated pace, although gross domestic product still showed a moderate increase for the quarter.
GDP increased at a revised rate of 2.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the 2.8 percent growth that was reported last month. The downward revision came as a surprise to economists, who expected the pace of growth to be unrevised at 2.8 percent.
The Australian dollar that slumped to a 16-day low of 1.6298 against the euro around 6:00 pm ET began edging higher thereafter. The aussie inched higher to 1.6262 against the euro after an hour and this may be compared to 1.6274 hit late New York Tuesday. On the upside, the Australian dollar may target the 1.624 level in near-term.
In the upcoming European session, trading could be impacted by the reports on French consumer spending for November and the Italian retail sales for October and consumer confidence index for December.
The Australian dollar declined to 80.34 against the yen before reversing its direction around 5:40 pm ET. The aussie-yen pair then advanced to 80.55 around 7:00 pm ET and the pair moved in a sideways pattern thereafter. Currently, the pair is trading near yesterday's closing value of 80.42.
In Japan, stock markets are closed today in honor of the emperor's birthday and will be re-opened on Thursday.
On the contrary, the Australian dollar advanced to a weekly high of 1.2562 against the New Zealand dollar by 5:10 pm ET mainly due to across the board weakening of the latter after the report showing New Zealand's economy in the third quarter expanded at a lower pace than forecast. The aussie-kiwi pair moved on holding pattern thereafter and is currently trading near 1.255, compared to 1.2535 hit late New York Tuesday.
Traders look forward to the North American session, in which the US personal income and spending reports for November are due. The personal income is expected to have expanded 0.5 percent in November, while spending remain unchanged at 0.7 percent.
The final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December is due to be released at 10:00 AM ET. The report is expected to show that the consumer sentiment index rose to 74.0 in the month.
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