Australia, NZ dlrs tad higher but traders cautious

By Swati Pandey and Charlotte Greenfield

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) – The Australian and New Zealand dollars held within recent ranges on Monday as investors tried to gauge whether a simmering tariff spat between the United States and China had the potential of exploding into a full-blown trade war.

The Australian dollar AUD=D4 was 0.2 percent firmer at $0.7691, within a $0.7643-$0.7727 trading band that has held since late March.

The New Zealand dollar rose 0.2 percent to $0.7290 to sit slightly above Friday’s low of $0.7244.

Investors have been left to review a feast of news reports on trade after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further tariffs on Chinese imports last Thursday. In response, Beijing warned it was fully prepared to retaliate with a “fierce counter strike”. there were also seemingly positive headlines with U.S officials hoping the dispute could be resolved through talks and Trump predicting China would take down its trade barriers. an outright US-China trade war is not on the cards yet the war of words is definitely on and it is likely to keep markets on edge over the coming weeks and potentially months,” said Rodrigo Catril, Sydney-based senior forex strategist at NAB.

“If more of the same is to be expected in terms of trade tension, NZD and AUD are likely to stay confined to their recent ranges and with the AUD caught in the US-China crosshairs, NZD probably has more upside.”

There has been heightened volatility in global financial markets since Trump first slapped import tariffs on aluminium and steel products last month and later singled out China with extra duties.

Trade barriers would prove negative for the open, export-heavy economies of Australia and New Zealand and their currencies, which are also liquid proxies for risk.

“Peak liquidity and slowing global growth momentum suggest we prefer to sell spikes,” said ANZ bank economists, referring to the kiwi which has eked out small gains in every single week since mid-March.

In contrast, the has dipped each week since March 9.

New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= gained, sending yields 1.5 basis points lower along most of the curve.

Australian government bond futures were mixed, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 unchanged at 97.830. The 10-year contract YTCc1 dipped 1 tick to 97.32. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Disclaimer:
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.