Antipodean Currencies Fall As Asian Shares Traded Lower

(RTTNews) - Antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollar weakened against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Wednesday, as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of a key U.S. inflation data later in the day that could influence the outlook for interest rates. Inflation fears due to the continued spike in crude oil prices also weighed on sentiment.

Ahead of the data, the CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 93.0 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged, but also indicating a 40.4 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike in November.

In economic news, data from Statistics New Zealand showed that the nation's Food Price Index (FPI) rose by 0.5 percent in August, from a 0.5 percent drop in the previous month.

On yearly basis, the food prices rose to 8.9 percent in August, from a gain of 9.6 percent in July.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to a 1-week low of 0.8682 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.8703. The aussie may test support near the 0.85 region.

Against the U.S. dollar and the euro, the aussie dropped to 2-day lows of 0.6399 and 1.6792 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6424 and 1.6735, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.62 against the greenback and 1.72 against the euro.

Moving away from a recent 8-day high of 94.72 against the yen, the aussie edged down to 94.34. On the downside, 93.00 is seen as the next support level for the aussie.

The aussie edged down to 1.0864 against the NZ dollar, from Tuesday's closing value of 1.0879. The next support level for the aussie is seen around the 1.06 region.

The NZ dollar fell to a 6-day low of 1.8254 against the euro and a 2-day low of 0.5886 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.8213 and 0.5902, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.85 against the euro and 0.57 against the greenback.

Moving away from a recent 2-day high of 87.13 against the yen, the kiwi edged down to 86.79. The kiwi may test support around the 85.00 area.

Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial production for July is due to be released at 5:00 am ET.

In the New York session, U.S. MBA mortgage approvals data for September, U.S. inflation data for August, U.S. EIA crude oil data and U.S. Federal Government budget balance report for August are slated for release.