Australian, NZ Dollars Climb Against Majors

(RTTNews) - The Australian and NZ dollars advanced against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as market participants digested the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting.

The minutes showed that almost all participants backed a 25-bps hike at the meeting, but a few supported raising rates by 50 basis points to achieve price stability in a timely way.

The minutes revealed that all participants continued to anticipate that ongoing rate increases would be appropriate to achieve the Fed's dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's private new capital expenditure rose a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2022 - coming in at A$35.016 billion.

That beat expectations for an increase of 1.3 percent following the 0.6 percent contraction in the previous three months.

The aussie advanced to 0.6841 against the greenback and 1.5526 against the euro, from its early lows of 0.6799 and 1.5586, respectively. The aussie is seen facing resistance around 0.70 against the greenback and 1.54 against the euro.

The aussie edged up to 92.18 against the yen and 0.9248 against the loonie, reversing from an early low of 91.67 and a 1-week low of 0.9209, respectively. The aussie may find resistance around 94.00 against the yen and 0.94 against the loonie.

The kiwi firmed to 1-week highs of 1.6992 against the euro and 84.25 against the yen, off its early lows of 1.7057 and 83.82, respectively. The currency is seen finding resistance around 1.68 against the euro and 86.00 against the yen.

The kiwi rose to 0.6251 against the greenback and 1.0925 against the aussie, up from its prior lows of 0.6213 and 1.0951, respectively. Next immediate resistance for the currency is seen around 0.64 against the greenback and 1.075 against the aussie.

Looking ahead, Eurozone final inflation data for January is due in the European session.

U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended February 18 and GDP data for the fourth quarter will be released in the New York session.