SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars steadied on Monday after a week of heavy falls, while domestic bonds caught up with the global rally as a mixed US jobs report offered some respite to the battered debt market.
The Aussie was little changed at $0.6574, having skidded 1.2% last week to a fresh two-month trough of $0.6514.
It is now facing resistance at a key chart level of 66 cents.
The kiwi dollar was up 0.1% at $0.6101, after a 0.9% weekly fall that took it to a five-week low of $0.6063.
Resistance is at Friday’s high of $0.6134. Traders are looking ahead to the risk events this week. Data on US consumer prices on Thursday are forecast to show headline inflation picking up slightly to an annual 3.3%, but the more important core rate is seen slowing to 4.7%.
Australia, NZ dollars head for third week of declines
The market is looking for further signs of deflation in key trading partner China, where annual consumer prices are seen down around 0.5%, and producer prices falling 4%.
On Friday, the US economy added fewer jobs than expected, but it recorded solid wage gains and a decline in the unemployment rate, a mixed result that nonetheless took some pressure off surging bond yields.
“The dollar had been on the front foot for much of the week until the softish non-farm payrolls report prompted a rebound in bond markets and a drop back in the dollar,” said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics.
“CPI data could of course throw a spanner in the works for the short term, but our sense is that underlying price pressures will continue to ease over the autumn, paving the way for the FOMC to shift towards rate cuts next year.”
The benchmark 10-year Australian bond yields slumped 12 basis points - the biggest daily drop since late April - to 4.052%, moving away from a three-week top of 4.177% hit on Friday.
Ten years slid 8 basis points to 3.798%.
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