In the Oceania foreign exchange market, both currencies were slightly firmer against the U.S. dollar and yen. The Australian dollar rose to $0.6979, while the New Zealand dollar was trading around $0.5650.
The Australian dollar was bought against the U.S. dollar as the dollar weakened, reaching $0.6979, above last week's high. Against the yen, it briefly fell below ¥110 in morning trading, but returned to the ¥110 range on Australian dollar buying and yen selling against the U.S. dollar.
The New Zealand dollar was trading around $0.5650 against the U.S. dollar, with New Zealand's Q3 CPI release due this week. Against the yen, it fell below ¥89.20 in morning trading before quickly rebounding, with no one-way move emerging.
This week's New Zealand data includes the trade balance for September, released at 06:45 on 10/19, with a result of -NZ$1.971 billion versus -NZ$1.349 billion previously. Q3 CPI is scheduled for release on 10/22, with forecasts of 0.9% quarter-on-quarter and 3.8% year-on-year.