Australia dollar hampered by risk aversion, kiwi by rate calls
By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, Oct 2 (Reuters) -The Australian and New Zealand dollars had stepped back from recent highs on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East curbed risk appetite, while the kiwi also struggled with bets for sharply lower interest rates.
Sentiment did steady somewhat when Iran said its missile attack on Israel was finished barring further provocation.
The Aussie sat at $0.6882 AUD=D3, having slipped 0.5% overnight and away from a 19-month top of $0.6942. Support lies around $0.6850 and $0.6790.
The kiwi dollar was down at $0.6285 NZD=D3, after sliding 1.1% the previous session and leaving behind its peak of $0.6379. Near-term support comes in at $0.6254.
It took an added blow when BNZ and Westpac changed their outlook for rates to predict accelerated easing of 50 basis points in both October and November.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) meets next week and markets had already priced in an odds-on chance of a half-point cut in the 5.25% cash rate. However, investors had assumed rates would only drop by 25 basis points at the next meeting.
"A key driver behind this change in view has been the strong signs that the forward inflation profile will be much more benign in aggregate than we have seen since 2021," said Kelly Eckhold, Westpac chief NZ economist.
"We anticipate a much slower, highly data dependent and uncertain path lower in the OCR in 2025," he added. "We have pencilled in 25bp cuts in each of the February and May taking the OCR to the long-term terminal rate of 3.75%."
Markets are even more dovish and have now shifted to imply 95 basis points of easing by the end of this year, with rates under 3.0% by the end of 2025. 0#RBNZWATCH
Two-year swap rates NZDSM3NB2Y= also fell sharply to the lowest since mid-2022 at 3.49%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to be far more restrained, with markets implying just a 20% chance of a cut at its next meeting on Nov. 5. 0#RBAWATCH
They are pricing in a 72% probability of a quarter-point cut in the 4.35% cash rate for December and see a gradual drop to around 3.35% by the end of next year.
The Aussie has also been underpinned by China's sudden burst of stimulus steps, including speculation Beijing will announce a fiscal spending package of around 4 trillion yuan next week.
Reporting by Wayne Cole
Editing by Shri Navaratnam
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
