Commodity Currency's Slide As Crude Oil Prices Traded Lower

(RTTNews) - The commodity currencies such as Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars weakened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, as oil prices dropped after the U.S. President Donald Trump postponed imposing fresh tariffs and unveiled a plan to increase U.S. oil and gas production.

The West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped 67 cents to $76.72 per barrel.

Brent crude futures fell 11 cents, or 0.14 percent, to $80.04 per barrel.

Oil prices fell as a result of President Donald Trump's announcement of a plan to increase U.S. oil and gas output and his suggestion to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting on February 1 rather than immediately.

Meanwhile, the markets reacted positively to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to impose China-specific tariffs on his first day in office.

Markets were bracing for major policy announcements and sweeping changes in U.S. trade policies that could thrust businesses into considerable uncertainty.

Trump also stated, "If we make a TikTok deal and China doesn't approve it, we could maybe put tariffs on China." He made this statement following his signing of an executive order postponing the implementation of the TikTok ban by seventy-five days.

In economic news, data from Business NZ showed that the New Zealand Performance of Service Index (PSI) fell to 47.9 in December from 49.5 in November, extending its contraction streak to ten consecutive months.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to an 8-day low of 1.6681 against the euro and a 6-day low of 1.1039 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.6593 and 1.1055, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.68 against the euro and 1.08 against the kiwi.

The aussie edged down to 0.6209 against the U.S. dollar, from an early more than a 2-week high of 0.6289. The aussie may test support near the 0.60 region.

Against the yen, the aussie edged down to 96.83 from Monday's closing value of 97.52. On the downside, 94.00 is seen as the next support level for the aussie.

The NZ dollar fell to 0.5622 against the U.S. dollar, from an early 2-week high of 0.5689. The next downside target for the kiwi is seen around the 0.54 region.

Against the yen and the euro, the kiwi edged down to 87.60 and 1.8421 from yesterday's closing quotes of 88.21 and 1.8343, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 86.00 against the yen and 1.86 against the euro.

The Canadian dollar fell to nearly a 5-year low of 1.4518 against the U.S. dollar and nearly a 4-week low of 1.5051 against the euro, from Monday's closing quotes of 1.4303 and 1.4905, respectively. If the loonie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.46 against the greenback and 1.52 against the euro.

Against the yen and the Australian dollar, the loonie dropped to more than 1-month lows of 107.34 and 0.9034 from yesterday's closing quotes of 108.57 and 0.8983, respectively. The loonie may test support near 104.00 against the yen and 0.92 against the aussie.

Looking ahead, Germany's ZEW economic confidence survey results for January are due at 5:00 am ET in the European session. The economic sentiment index is expected to fall to 15.2 in January from 15.7 in December.

In the New York session, Canada CPI reports for December are slated for release.