Antipodean Currencies Fall Amid Risk Aversion, China Rate Cut

The Antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars weakened against their major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, as Asian stocks fell amid uncertainties about the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election and a surprise rate cut by China's central bank also weighed on the currencies.

Investors remain concerned about the effects of the widespread Microsoft outage that hit services from airlines, banks and financial services worldwide. The deepening Sino-U.S. trade tensions and rising concerns about the outlook for China's growth also hurt market sentiment.

The operations of major banks, media outlets, hospitals and airlines worldwide were affected due to the widespread outage, which was purportedly caused by an update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (CRWD).

"The underlying cause has been fixed, however, residual impact is continuing to affect some Microsoft 365 apps and services. We're conducting additional mitigations to provide relief," Microsoft said on X.

U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to end his reelection campaign and endorse U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to run against former President Donald Trump.

China lowered its short-term policy rate as well as benchmark lending rates, in order to prop up growth. The People's Bank of China cut the interest rate on seven-day reverse repos to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent.

After cutting seven-day reverse repo rate, the central bank lowered the one-year loan prime rate to 3.35 percent from 3.45 percent.

Similarly, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was trimmed to 3.85 percent from 3.95 percent. The five-year LPR was last lowered by 5 basis points in February.

Weakness across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid tumbling commodity prices, also led to the downturn of the antipodean currencies.

Crude oil prices fell to a four-week low amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China and on renewed hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza, while a firm dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August sank $2.69 or 3.25 percent at $80.13 a barrel, the lowest settlement since June 17.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to nearly a 1-1/2-month low of 1.6341 against the euro and more than a 1-month low of 104.17 against the yen, from last week's closing quotes of 1.6273 and 105.23, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.64 against the euro and 103.00 against the yen.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie slipped to near 3-week lows of 0.6661 and 0.9149 from Friday's closing quotes of 0.6682 and 0.9176, respectively. The aussie may test support near 0.65 against the greenback and 0.90 against the loonie.

The aussie edged down to 1.1102 against the NZ dollar, from last week's closing value of 1.1118. The AUD/NZD pair may test support near the 1.10 region.

The NZ dollar fell to a 2-1/2-month low of 0.5991 against the U.S. dollar and more than a 2-month low of 93.79 against the yen, from Friday's closing quotes of 0.6009 and 94.64, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.58 against the greenback and 92.00 against the yen.

Against the euro, the kiwi dropped to an 8-month low of 1.8171 from last week's closing value of 1.8098. The EUR/NZD pair may test support near the 1.82 region.

Looking ahead, U.S. Chicago Fed National Activity Index for June is due to be released at 8:30 am ET in the New York session.

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