Australia, New Zealand Dollars Plummet on Carry Trade Weakness

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars suffered greatly from the sharp reversal in the Dow and the sell-off in carry trades. We only had minor data released from Australia and New Zealand last night. Business confidence in Australia dropped as companies become more concerned about the ramification of recent interest rate hikes. New Zealand terms of trade increased in the third quarter while the percentage of house sales improved; these numbers were not market moving. Looking ahead, Australian consumer confidence is due for release along with the Canadian trade balance. The strong Canadian dollar should continue to hurt exports, which could lead to a smaller trade surplus. USDCAD has been fluctuating in a tight range and the merchandise trade balance is the only piece of Canadian data that has the power to cause the currency pair to breakout. For the Australian and New Zealand dollars, their currencies will be dependent upon the market’s appetite for risk.