SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars edged up on Thursday, having managed to hold onto key support levels as global stocks shook off the latest tariff salvos from US President Donald Trump.
The Aussie was helped by a surprise central bank decision to hold interest rates this week, whereas the kiwi was undermined by prospects of central bank policy easing.
In the tariff world, Trump on Wednesday announced a 50% tariff on copper imports and also a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil, both to start on August 1.
He also sent letters detailing tariffs to seven small trading partners.
Wall Street was little bothered and ended the day higher with chip giant Nvidia hitting a market value of $4 trillion.
That helped the two Antipodean currencies as they are often traded as proxies for global risk sentiment.
The Aussie inched up 0.1% to $0.6544, having also eked out a 0.1% gain overnight.
It kept well off Monday’s low of $0.6485 due to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision, with support at 65 cents.
The kiwi was also 0.1% higher at $0.6005, after two sessions ending flat. It seems to have found support at 60 cents, but remained well below its nine-month peak of $0.6120.
Swaps now imply a 62% chance that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand could cut interest rates in August, after holding fire in a widely expected decision on Wednesday.
A total easing of 37 basis points has been priced in until February.
If the RBNZ does cut in August, that could give a small boost to the Australian dollar versus the kiwi, said senior economist Kristina Clifton at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
On the other hand, “a deferred RBA rate cutting cycle can lend some support to AUD.
But AUD/USD will mostly be driven by tariff news over the rest of the week,“ Clifton said.
The Aussie held at NZ$1.089, a touch below a two-month top, and fetched 95.5 yen, some distance away from a five-month peak of 96.21 yen hit on Wednesday.
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