Antipodean currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, with investor sentiment bolstered by the rally on Wall Street overnight and a sharp rebound in the price of crude oil.
Crude oil for February delivery are currently up $0.23 to $37.73 a barrel.
Crude oil futures rallied after a surprising drop in U.S. oil inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude inventories fell by 5.9 million barrels in the week ended December 18th.
Meanwhile, OPEC forecasts that oil prices will recover to $70 a barrel by 2020, and will continue to move higher, but will only be at $95 a barrel by 2040.
In other economic news, data from the Conference Board showed that the Australian economy continued to struggle in October, as its leading economic index dipped 0.1 percent on month. That follows the downwardly revised 0.3 percent contraction in September.
Wednesday, the Australian and New Zealand dollars showed mixed performance against their major rivals. While the aussie rose against the euro, the kiwi fell. Against the yen, the aussie held steady and the kiwi fell. The aussie and the kiwi held steady against the buck.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to an 8-day high of 0.7259 against the U.S. dollar and a 1-week high of 1.5041 against the euro, from yesterday’s closing quotes of 0.7232 and 1.5073, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.74 against the greenback and 1.48 against the euro.
The aussie advanced to 87.66 against the yen, from yesterday’s closing value of 87.43. The aussie is likely to find resistance around the 89.00 area.
Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the aussie edged up to 1.0663 and 1.0049, from yesterday’s closing quotes of 1.0639 and 1.0008, respectively. The aussie may test resistance near 1.08 against the kiwi and 1.01 against the loonie.
The NZ dollar rose to 0.6808 against the U.S. dollar and 82.22 against the yen, from yesterday’s closing quotes of 0.6789 and 82.11, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.69 against the greenback and 83.50 against the yen.
Against the euro, the kiwi edged up to 1.6034 from yesterday’s closing value of 1.6049. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around the 1.57 region.
Looking ahead, U.K. BBA mortgage approvals for November is due to be released at 4:30 am ET.
In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended December 19 and Baker Hughes U.S. rig count data are slated for release.
Most markets will have a shortened session and close early on Christmas Eve today.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com