Despite lower commodity prices and dollar strength, the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars extended their gains against the greenback.
Since the beginning of the week, the three commodity producing countries have seen their currencies quietly trend higher and so far, there has been nothing to threaten that trend. Canadian consumer prices grew more than expected last month, which has helped to push the Canadian dollar higher. Retail sales are due for release tomorrow and they are also expected to be firm given the sharp rise in wholesale sales. New Zealand will be reporting the growth of visitors in the month of May. Even though it is a secondary report that does not move markets, it tends to be a good barometer of economic health since tourism is the single biggest export industry in the country, far surpassing the dairy industry in earnings. Last month, tourism fell 11 percent. If that decline continues, the NZD economy could be in for more trouble.