SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars shed some recent gains on Monday after Chinese economic data badly missed forecasts, undermining commodity prices and risk sentiment globally.
The Aussie dipped 0.3% to $0.7098, and away from last week’s two-month high of $0.7136. Chart support lies around $0.7060.
The kiwi dollar eased to $0.6425, again off a two-month top of $0.6468. It has support around $0.6420 and $0.6385.
Figures for Chinese retail sales, industrial output and new bank lending all disappointed, overshadowing a surprise rate cut by the country’s central bank.
That tarnished hopes for a soft landing in the global economy that had seen both resource-rich currencies rally sharply last week.
It was another complication for monetary policy with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) still widely expected to hike rates by half a point to 3.0% on Wednesday, but maybe temper its projection of a peak around 4%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is also expected to tighten further at its next policy meeting in September, though the market is split on whether it will go by 25 or 50 basis points.
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