Antipodean Currencies Rise On Positive Cues From Wall Street

Antipodean currencies such as the Australian and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Wednesday as risk appetite rose following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street. However, gains are modest as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes later in the day.

The Federal Reserve minutes are expected to provide more insight on the probability of an interest rate increase at the Fed's March meeting.

Investors are also digesting mixed corporate earnings results.

Crude oil delivery for April is currently up by 0.19 percent or $54.52 per barrel. Crude oil prices rose as OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo discussed the cartel's supply quota agreement.

In economic news, data from Westpac Bank showed that the Australian economy continued to expand in January, albeit at a slower pace, adding just 0.03 percent to its index. That follows the 0.43 percent growth in December, and it marks the sixth straight month of above-trend growth.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that wage growth in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016. That was in line with expectations and up from 0.4 percent in the third quarter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said that the total value of construction work done in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2016, coming in at A$46.263 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 4.4 percent contraction in the third quarter.

Data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed that total credit card spending in New Zealand increased for the second straight month in January. Credit card spending edged up 0.2 percent month-over-month In January, much slower than the 3.2 percent climb in December. On an annual basis, credit card spending growth eased to 7.1 percent from 8.6 percent in the previous month.

Tuesday, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars showed mixed trading against their major rivals. The Australian dollar fell against the U.S. dollar, while it rose against the yen and the euro. Meanwhile, the NZ dollar fell against the U.S. dollar, but it rose against the yen and the euro.

In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to nearly a 2-year high of 1.3708 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3723. The aussie may test resistance near the 1.36 region.

Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the aussie advanced to 5-day highs of 0.7698 and 87.39 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7673 and 87.24, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.78 against the greenback and 88.00 against the yen.

The aussie edged up to 1.0736 against the NZ dollar and 1.0096 against the Canadian dollar from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0715 and 1.0082, respectively. On the upside, 1.08 against the kiwi and 1.01 against the loonie are seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The NZ dollar rose to a 5-day high of 81.44 against the yen from an early low of 81.23. The kiwi may test resistance near the 83.00 region.

Against the euro, the kiwi advanced to 1.4703 from an early low of 1.4735. This may be compared to an early 6-day high of 1.4702. On the upside, 1.45 is seen as the next resistance level for the kiwi.

Against the U.S. dollar, the kiwi edged up to 0.7175 from yesterday's closing value of 0.7161. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 0.73 region.

Looking ahead, the German Ifo business climate index for February, Swiss ZEW economic expectation index for January, U.K. second estimate GDP data for the fourth quarter and Eurozonze CPI data for January are due to be released later in the day.

In the New York session, Canada retail sales data for December and U.S. existing home sales data for January are slated for release.

At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell will deliver a speech titled "The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy" at the Forecaster's Club of New York Luncheon.

At 2:00 pm ET, Federal Open Market Committee is expected to release the minutes of its January policy meeting.