Antipodean Currencies Rise As Asian Stock Markets Traded Higher

Antipodean currencies such as the Australian and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Monday, as Asian stock markets traded higher. This was due to the absence of fresh provocations by North Korea over the weekend.

Investors are now looking ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan's meetings later this week for clues on the direction of monetary policy.

In other economic news, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the total number of new motor vehicle sales in Australia was flat on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, coming in at 99,564. That follows the 2.0 percent decline in July.

Meanwhile, the crude oil delivery for October is currently up 0.11 percent or $50.00 per barrel.

The crude oil prices rose after industry data showed the U.S. oil rig count dropped for a second week post-hurricanes. Baker Hughes reported the number of active U.S. rigs slipped by 8 to 936, as refineries hit by Hurricane Harvey also went offline.

In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to more than a 1-1/2-month high of 89.34 against the yen, from Friday's closing value of 88.66. The aussie may test resistance around the 89.00 region.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie advanced to a 5-day high of 0.8035 and a 1-week high of 0.9783 from last week's closing quotes of 0.7999 and 0.9729, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.81 against the greenback and 1.00 against the loonie.

The aussie advanced to a 4-day high of 1.4874 against the euro, from an early 5-day low of 1.4936. On the upside, 1.47 is seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The NZ dollar rose to nearly a 4-week high of 1.6269 against the euro and a 6-week high of 81.65 against the yen, from Friday's closing quotes of 1.6463 and 80.13, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.61 against the euro and 82.00 against the yen.

Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi advanced to nearly a 6-week high of 0.7344 and nearly a 3-week high of 1.0937 from last week's closing quotes of 0.7239 and 1.1043, respectively. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around 0.74 against the greenback and 1.08 against the aussie.

In the scheduled events today, Eurozone CPI data for August is due to be released at 5:00 am ET.

In the New York session, U.S. NAHB housing market index for September is slated for release.

At 10:30 am ET, ECB Board member Sabine Lautenschlager will participate in Panel II "Policy challenges in the banking sector" at conference "Supervisory policy implementation in the current macro-financial environment: a cross-sectoral journey," organised by BIS in Basel, Switzerland.

At 11:00 am ET, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gives a lecture at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C.

At 2:15 pm ET, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Timothy Lane is expected to speak at the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority in Saskatchewan, Canada.