The antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars weakened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Friday as Asian stock markets traded lower, amid concerns over the re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after ship attacks and seizures near the Strait of Hormuz.
Traders are now anticipating China's active role to resolve the crisis and hasten up the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the backdrop of a U.S.-China summit. Both countries agreed the Strait must be free for all nations.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.