Antipodean Currencies Rise Amid Risk Appetite

(RTTNews) - The Antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday amid risl appetite, as traders reacted positively to a closely watched report on U.S. consumer price inflation that showed a smaller-than-expected increase in the month of April to reinforce expectations the U.S. Fed will begin cutting interest rates in September.

Gains across most sectors led by gold miners and technology stocks, also led to the upturn of investor sentiment.

Crude oil prices traded higher, buoyed by soft inflation data and a report showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.61 or 0.78 percent at $78.63 a barrel.

In economic news, data from Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the Australian economy had created 38,500 jobs in April, against a 23,700 forecast.

In the Asian trading now, the Australian dollar rose to a 9-day high of 1.6223 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.6254. The aussie may test resistance around the 1.61 region.

Against the Canada and the U.S. dollars, the aussie advanced to more than a 1-year high of 0.9126 and more than a 4-month high of 0.6715 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 0.9111 and 0.6700, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.92 against the loonie and 0.68 against the greenback.

The NZ dollar rose to more than 2-month highs of 0.6141 against the U.S. dollar and 1.7738 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6129 and 1.7766, respectively. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around 0.63 against the greenback and 1.74 against the euro.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi advanced to more than a 3-week high of 1.0915 from Wednesday's closing value of 1.0931. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 1.08 area. Also, the Canadian dollar rose to more than a 1-month high of 1.3590 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3598. The loonie may test resistance around the 1.33 region.

Looking ahead, U.S. building permits for April, weekly jobless claims data, housing starts for April, U.S. Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for May, U.S. export and import prices for April and industrial production for April are slated for release in the New York session.