CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Commodity currencies such as the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars weakened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday amid rising risk aversion. The overnight tumble in crude oil prices are weighing on resource stocks.
Crude oil prices fell on Monday, as Kuwaiti officials suggested THE OPEC will maintain its production quotas.
Meanwhile, the commodity currencies rose slightly after the release of the Chinese trade data, but retreated shortly after.
Data from the Customs Office showed that China posted a merchandise trade surplus of $60.34 billion in September. That topped forecasts for a surplus of $47.90 billion following the $60.24 billion surplus in August.
Exports were down 3.7 percent on year, beating expectations for a decline of 6.0 percent following the 5.5 percent fall in the previous month.
In other economic news, data from National Australia Bank showed that the business confidence in Australia picked up steam in September, with an index score of +5. That's up from +1 in August.
The index for business conditions came in with a score of +9, down from +11 in the previous month.
Data from Statistics New Zealand showed that food prices in New Zealand were up 0.7 percent on year in September, following the 0.4 percent increase in August. On a monthly basis, food prices were down 0.5 percent for the second straight month.
Monday, the Australian dollar rose, as risk appetite improved amid optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates until early 2016. Higher commodity prices also boosted investor sentiment. The Australian dollar rose 0.51 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.31 percent against the yen and 0.32 percent against the euro.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars showed mixed performance against their major rivals. While the kiwi and loonie rose against the U.S. dollar, they fell against the euro. Against the yen, the kiwi rose and the loonie held steady.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar fell to 4-day lows of 0.7293 against the U.S. dollar and 87.41 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7361 and 88.36, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.70 against the greenback and 85.00 against the yen.
The aussie dropped to a 5-day low of 1.5567 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.5425. On the downside, 1.57 is seen as the next support level for the aussie.
Against the Canadian dollar, the aussie edged down to 0.9524 from yesterday's closing value of 0.9568. The aussie is likely to find support around the 0.93 area.
The NZ dollar fell to a 1-week low of 1.0983 against the Australian dollar and a 5-day low of 1.7056 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0955 and 1.6902, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.10 against the aussie and 1.74 against the euro.
Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the kiwi dropped to a 4-day low of 0.6656 and and a 5-day low of 79.78 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6716 and 80.62, respectively. The kiwi may test support near 0.65 against the greenback and 78.00 against the yen.
The Canadian dollar fell to nearly a 2-week low of 1.4836 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.4763. The loonie is likely to find support around the 1.52 area.
Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the loonie dropped to 5-day lows of 1.3063 and 91.74 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.2997 and 92.35, respectively. If the loonie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.32 against the greenback and 89.00 against the yen.
Looking ahead, German CPI data for September is due to be release in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.
In the European session, Swiss producer and import prices, U.K. consumer prices, retail prices and producer prices indexes, all for September, U.K. house price index for August and ZEW German economic sentiment index for October are slated for release.
At 5:00 am ET, Bank of England Member Gertjan Vlieghe will testify on his appointment before the Treasury Select Committee in London. Later, BOE MPC member Ian McCafferty will also testify on his reappointment at 6:30 am ET in the same venue.
Additionally, U.S. NFIB small business index for September is set to be announced at 6:00 am ET.
At 8:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is expected to speak on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the National Association for Business Economics 57th annual meeting, 'North America's Place in a Changing World Economy', in Washington.
Subsequently, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley presides over an Economic Club of New York luncheon meeting in New York at 11:45 am ET.
At 2:00 pm ET, Federal budget balance is set to be released.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX