CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Commodity currencies such as the Australian, the
New Zealand
and the Canadian dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday amid rising risk appetite, as gains in crude oil prices as well as other commodity prices on the back of a weaker dollar lifted resource stocks.
Crude oil for March delivery are currently up $0.40 at $32.68 a barrel. Oil
prices rallied, taking back steep losses from the previous two sessions as the dollar weakened.
Wednesday, the Australian, the
New Zealand
and the Canadian dollars showed mixed trading against its major rivals.
The Australian and the Canadian dollars fell against the yen and the euro. However, the NZ dollar rose against the euro and held steady against the yen. Meanwhile, the Australian, the
New Zealand
and the Canadian dollars rose against the
U.S.
dollar.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to a 1-month high of 0.7191 against the
U.S.
dollar and a 2-day high of 84.94 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7168 and 84.48, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.73 against the greenback and 88.00 against the yen.
Against the euro, the aussie edged up to 1.5422 from yesterday's closing value of 1.5487. The aussie may test resistance near the 1.49 region.
The NZ dollar rose to 0.6684 against the
U.S.
dollar, 78.96 against the yen and 1.6588 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6661, 78.53 and 1.6645, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.68 against the greenback, 82.00 against the yen and 1.61 against the euro.
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi edged up to 1.0747 from an early low of 1.0779. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around the 1.05 area.
The Canadian dollar rose to nearly a 2-month high of 1.3719 against the
U.S.
dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3778. On the upside, 1.35 is seen as the next resistance level for the loonie.
Against the yen, the euro and the Australian dollar, the loonie edged up to 86.06, 1.5222 and 0.9849 from yesterday's closing quotes of 85.52, 1.5299 and 0.9871, respectively. If the loonie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 89.00 against the yen, 1.49 against the euro and 0.97 against the aussie.
Looking ahead, SECO Swiss consumer confidence index for January is due to be released in the pre-European session at 1:45 am ET.
Subsequently, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren will deliver a speech titled "Too Big to Fail" at the Bank of International Settlements in
Cape Town
at 2:15 am ET.
At 3:00 am ET, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is scheduled to deliver the Marjolin Lecture at the SUERF conference organised by the German Bundesbank in
Frankfurt
.
At 4:00 am ET, the European Central Bank is scheduled to release the economic bulletin.
The Bank of
England
is due to announce its interest rate decision, inflation report and the minutes of the meeting at 7:00 am ET. Economists expect the bank to retain interest rates unchanged at 0.50 percent and asset purchase target at
GBP 375 billion.
At 7:45 am ET, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, along with the other
MPC members, will hold a press conference on the Inflation Report in
London
.
In the
New York
session,
U.S.
weekly jobless claims for the week ended January 30 and
U.S.
factory orders data for December are slated for release.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is due to participate in a discussion of Global Economic Conditions at an event hosted by the Real Estate Council in
Dallas
at 8:30 am ET.
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