SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: The Australian dollar opened the week slightly lower on Monday, as investor mood soured following setbacks in the country’s vaccination programme, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed.

The Aussie dollar was down 0.15% at $0.7606, extending Friday’s losses, which were triggered by worries about a slowdown in the country’s coronavirus vaccine rollout.

The currency had consolidated around $0.7650 in recent weeks following a brief run-up to $0.80 earlier this year.

The New Zealand dollar was little changed, having hovered around the $0.7031 level since April 2. The Kiwi’s major barrier is $0.7053, and support lies around $0.70.

New Zealand government bonds were little changed, with yields trading 2-3 basis points higher at the longer end of the curve.

Yields on Australian 10-year bonds were higher at 1.71%, but far from a top of 1.87% last month. They were trading at a 6 basis point yield spread over US Treasuries, up from 3 basis points on Friday but far from the 40 basis point gap hit in February.—Reuters