Both the Australian and New Zealand Dollars have made gains against the Pound and other major peers as the market’s attention is focused upon the outcome of the two-day long Federal Reserve policy meeting which is due to end later today.
Investors have raised their bets that the US Central Bank will choose to delay tapering its $85 billion per month quantitative easing programme until next year, a move which will support emerging and commodity based currencies such as the ‘Aussie’ and ‘Kiwi’.
Also supporting the Australian Dollar was the release of positive home sales data. The number of new homes sold in the country soared by its fastest pace in over a year as low interest rates supported a recovery across the property sector. According to the Housing Industry Association, sales rose by 6.4% in September with the sale of new apartments jumped by 20%. The total level of sales was the highest recorded since June 2011.
“There is clear upward momentum in detached house sales which grew by 3.7 percent in the September quarter to be up by 25.2 percent when compared with the same quarter last year,” said HIA chief economist Harley Dale. “This September outcome is very positive.”
Early in the session the New Zealand Dollar fell to a four-week low after Moody’s Investors Service said that it was considering stripping the smaller Oceanic nation of its top credit rating. Moody’s is the only one of the three major credit agencies that still gives a top AAA rating.
“New Zealand’s reliance on overseas investors means it can face difficulties when crises such as the Christchurch earthquakes and Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd’s contaminated milk scare occur” said Moody’s senior Vice President Steven Hess.
The currency managed to shrug off the news to rise higher against most of its peers including the US Dollar and Euro. Rserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler is expected to maintain the country’s official cash rate at the record low level of 2.5% when he reviews monetary policy tonight GMT.
Current Exchange Australian Dollar (AUD) Rates
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9511
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6914
The Australian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5922
The Australian Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1485
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4463
The Pound Sterling /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6884
Current New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8281
The New Zealand Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6020
The New Zealand Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5156
The New Zealand Dollar /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8706
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2075
The Pound Sterling/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.9391
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6611
Correct as of 10:00 am GMT
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