Aussie, NZ dollars soft and steady ahead of Fed

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars were sitting lower against the US dollar on Tuesday, with downbeat news about China and the eurozone weighing on sentiment, while investors stayed cautious ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.

* The Australian dollar at $1.0517, from $1.0526 locally on Monday. It ranged between $1.0473 to $1.0544 overnight in a muted session that offered few positives for commodity currencies.

* Support for the Aussie seen initially at $1.0470, the 38.2 percent retracement of its mid-December-February uptrend, with $1.0450 below that. Topside seen at $1.0576.

* The New Zealand dollar little changed from Monday's local level at $0.8180, having ranged between $0.8138 to $0.8188 overnight.

* Kiwi support seen initially at $0.8140 and below that the 200 day moving average $0.8090, with $0.8210 to cap the topside.

* The Antipodean dollars weighed but not beaten down by China's huge $31.5 billion trade deficit, which was due in part to a surge in imports from countries like Australia.

* Local data includes the NAB business survey for February and housing finance, while NZ has food prices and house sales and prices.

* The US dollar eases against the euro and yen, but the downside is likely to be limited ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting given expectations there will not be any more easing due to signs of a recovering jobs market.

* Investors looking out for US retail sales data for February which is expected to show a 1 percent rise, along with Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting, which delivered a surprise easing last month.

* Data from the eurozone shows Italy in recession and the German Finance Minister says a third bailout package for Greece cannot be ruled out.

* The Aussie loses ground against the yen, falling 0.7 percent to 86.46 yen, while kiwi eases 0.3 percent to 67.27 yen. Both currencies remain within reach of recent multi-month highs.

* Kiwi holds recent gains against the Aussie, which eased to a 10-day low of NZ$1.2810 before clawing back to NZ$1.2846.

* New Zealand government bond prices flat.

* Australian debt futures barely changed with the three-year contract 0.005 points higher at 95.450, and 10-year unmoved at 96.035.