The Australian dollar edged up to $0.7400, from $0.7385 early and away from a four-month trough of $0.7329. Resistance was found at $0.7421. The Aussie was underpinned by iron ore prices firming following a sharp retreat, combined with receding concerns over China. Australian government bond futures rose, with the three-year bond contract up 2 ticks at 98.170. The 10-year contract gained 4.5 ticks to 97.3800, while the 20-year contract was steady at 96.2150.
New Zealand government bonds gained, sending yields 3 basis points lower at the long end of the curve. Retail sales volumes rose a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent in the three months to end-March, data from Statistics New Zealand showed, handily topping analysts' expectations of a 0.9 percent rise. Investors were now waiting comments by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's assistant governor John McDermott at 0500 GMT. "We expect that McDermott will use this speech to ram home the Bank's message that a 1.75 percent official cash rate is here to stay for a considerable period," Kiwibank economists said in a research note. The central bank surprised markets at its policy meeting last week, adopting a more dovish tone than many had expected and warning that the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund, which tracks the investment results of an index of large- and mid-cap emerging market stocks, was at a two-year peak - easing worries about China's economic health.
Copyright Reuters, 2017