Antipodean Currencies Rise As Asian Shares Traded Higher

(RTTNews) - The Antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, as traders react positively to comments from several U.S. Fed officials suggesting the U.S. central bank is nearing the end of its rate-hiking cycle.

Traders also cautiously await U.S. consumer price inflation data later in the day that is likely to have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the inflation data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 92.4 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike at the next Fed meeting later this month.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decided to maintain the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.50 percent at its July monetary policy meeting, as expected by the economists.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar rose to an 8-day high of 1.0832 against the NZ dollar and a 6-day high of 1.6363 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0778 and 1.6463, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.10 against the kiwi and 1.59 against the euro.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie advanced to near 3-week highs of 0.6742 and 0.8899 from Tuesday's closing quotes of 0.6685 and 0.8844, respectively. The aussie may test resistance near 0.69 against the greenback and 0.90 against the loonie.

The aussie edged up to 94.13 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 93.84. On the upside, 97.00 is seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The NZ dollar rose to nearly a 1-month high of 0.6239 against the U.S. dollar and a 2-day high of 1.7682 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6198 and 1.7765, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.64 against the greenback and 1.71 against the euro.

Against the yen, the kiwi edged up to 87.07 from a recent 4-week low of 86.51. The next possible upside target for the kiwi is seen around the 89.00 region.

Looking ahead, U.S. MBA weekly mortgage approvals data, U.S. inflation data for June, U.S. EIA weekly crude oil report, U.S. WASDE report and U.S. Fed Beige book report are slated for release in the New York session.

At 8:45 am ET, Philip R. Lane, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will participate in a panel at the NBER conference "Summer Institute 2023 - Macro, Money and Financial Frictions" in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA.

At 9:00 am ET, the Bank of Canada key will announce its interest rate decision and monetary policy report. The economists expect a rate hike of 25 bps to 5.0 percent from 4.75 percent.

After an hour, the Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers will hold a press conference to discuss the contents of the report, in Ottawa, Canada.

At 12:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is scheduled to speak on "Financial and Payments Inclusion" before the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta 2023 Payments Inclusion Forum: "Breaking Barriers", in Atlanta, U.S.

At 3:00 pm ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak on "FedNow" before a session on Instant Payment Systems before the National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute: Macro, Money and Financial Frictions," in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.