CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Analysts at Westpac reiterated on Thursday that the forex market is likely to continue staying quiet ahead of Greek elections on Sunday, which will determine the country's future in the eurozone.
Risk currencies remained under pressure early in Asia following weak U.S. retail sales and market volatility heading into the crucial Greek election on Sunday.
AUD/USD fell from an overnight high of 0.9996 to a low of 0.9928 at 7:30 am Sydney time. NZD/USD that traded around 0.7720/40 ahead of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand interest rate decision rose just short of the daily resistance at 0.7780 after the central bank held rates steady at 2.5 percent. AUD/USD and NZD/USD remained fairly quiet for the rest of the day with empty data calendars and no headlines, trading at 0.9955 and 0.7775, respectively in the afternoon.
Elsewhere, Moody's downgrade of Spain ratings to Baa3 from A3 weakened EUR/USD to 1.2554 in early deals and the pair remained in a 1.2550/80 range for the rest of the session. The firm noted that the euro remains under pressure ahead of Italy's auction of EUR 4.5 billion bonds, with yields close to recent highs.
USD/JPY remained quiet, trading in a tight range of 79.28/48 for the entire day.
Asian currencies have also traded in tight ranges against the dollar through the course of today's session although the bias within the market remains to fade rallies in most USD/Asia pairs.
The Philippine peso was the standout performer in the early part of the session, with support coming from brewer San Miguel, which is planning a record $1.9 billion share sale as well as much stronger than expected export figures. The 1-month USD/PHP fell to the 42.50 level before buying interest emerged and we are now back up at the 42.65 level this afternoon.
USD/KRW has edged down through the 1170 level, but there doesn't appear to be a great deal of interest to chase the pair lower. USD/MYR was steady, with selling interest still present above the 3.1900 level.
Meanwhile, the USD/CNY fix came in a touch lower than expected, but little reaction was seen in terms of the USD/CNY non-deliverable forwards curve. The 12-month sits around the 6.4175/80 level. Analysts noted that the USD/CNY fix will be more focus tomorrow, particularly with the G20 meeting due to kick-off early next week.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
