Australia, NZ dollars brace for domestic data

SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars steadied in cautious trade on Monday ahead of retail sales and monthly inflation readings later in the week, which are set to shape the interest rate outlook Down Under.

The Aussie was little changed at $0.6717, after a whippy response to US data on Friday which saw it slump to near one-month lows of $0.6641 before reboundng to $0.6714. It now faces resistance at the 10-day moving average of $0.6776, having lost 1.5% last week.

The kiwi dollar was also idling at $0.6247, having also bounced off a more than three-week low of $0.6182 on Friday. Resistance is around $0.6283 after a drop of 1.2% in the first week of the new year.