Aussie Near Five-Year Low Versus Kiwi Before RBA Policy Meet

 Berita dari PT. Jalatama Australia’s dollar was 0.2 percent from a five-year low versus New Zealand’s currency before the larger nation’s Reserve Bank meets amid repeated calls from its policy makers for a lower exchange rate.

The Aussie was little changed for a third day versus the greenback as a technical indicator signaled losses in Australia’s currency were too rapid. New Zealand’s kiwi dollar was near its strongest since May versus the yen amid speculation Japanese investors are seeking higher-yielding assets.

“The Aussie is a less risky sale against the kiwi than it is against the U.S. dollar at the moment,” said Thomas Averill, a managing director in Sydney at Rochford Capital, a currency and rates risk-management company. “One of the reasons why we’re seeing as much jawboning from the RBA as we are is because they’re not going to do anything in terms of direct policy action” on the currency, Averill said, referring to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The Australian dollar traded at NZ$1.1128 at 11:25 a.m. in Sydney after yesterday touching NZ$1.1105, the weakest since October 2008. It bought 91.14 U.S. cents from 91.06. It traded at 93.76 yen from 93.74. New Zealand’s currency was at 81.91 cents from 81.86. The kiwi was little changed at 84.26 yen after touching 84.48 yesterday, the highest since May 16.

The difference between the two-year swap rate in Australia and New Zealand was 77 basis points today and reached a four-month high of 82 basis points on Nov. 28. Benchmark rates in both nations are at 2.5 percent.

(Source: Bloomberg)

China Stock-Index Futures Fall as IPO Plan Overshadows PMI Data

China’s stock-index futures fell after the country’s securities regulator issued a reform plan for initial public offerings that prepares to lift a more than one-year freeze on new listings, overshadowing data showing manufacturing growth beating analyst estimates in November.

Futures on the CSI 300 Index (SHSZ300) expiring in December slid 0.7 percent to 2,436 as of 9:16 a.m. Zijin Mining Co. may drop after its Hong Kong-listed stock was cut to reduce from hold at BNP Paribas SA. PetroChina Co. may retreat after it was sued by a Chinese environmental group for pollution in northeast China.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 2,220.50 at the close on Nov. 29. The index climbed 3.7 percent in November after President Xi Jinping pledged to ease restrictions on private investment and the one-child policy. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rallied 7.7 percent in Hong Kong last month, the most since December.

About 50 companies are expected to complete the IPO approval preparations and list or be ready to do so by the end of January, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its website on Nov. 30. There are more than 760 companies in the queue for approval and it will take about a year to complete an audit of all the applications, it said.

(Source: Bloomberg)           

Dollar Reaches Six-Month High as Improving Economy Boosts Allure

The dollar rose to a six-month high against the yen after signs of improvement in the world’s largest economy boosted the allure of U.S. assets.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index traded near a two-week high before data next week forecast to show U.S. manufacturing expanded for a sixth month. The euro retreated from a four-year high against the yen as technical indicators signaled its recent gains were excessive. The Australian dollar rallied from a two-month low after business investment unexpectedly grew.

“A string of reasonably positive data in the U.S. is probably going to help the dollar via higher treasury yields,” said Michael Turner, a debt and currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Sydney. Yields on Japanese government bonds “have been falling fairly consistently for the past four or five months and that’s kept the yen fairly weak.”

The dollar was little changed at 102.07 yen as of 10:51 a.m. in Tokyo from yesterday, after touching 102.28, the strongest level since May 29. It traded at $1.3572 against the euro from $1.3579. The shared currency declined 0.2 percent to 138.47 yen after touching 138.84, the highest since June 2009.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against 10 major peers, rose 0.3 percent to 1,021.55 yesterday, the highest close since Nov. 12. The gauge was at 1,020.99.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield gained three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, yesterday, to 2.74 percent. Similar-dated Japanese government bonds yielded 0.605 percent today.

U.S. markets are closed for Thanksgiving holiday.

(Source: Bloomberg)