AUD/NZD can’t shake 1.09 as Aussie, Kiwi fight for last place

• Aussie flubs the week opener, continues to head lower against the NZD.
• Early week sees thin data for the Antipodeans, first release on Tuesday for the Kiwi.

The AUD/NZD is trading into recent lows near the 1.0900 level as the pair’s bullish momentum continues to wash away as the Aussie and the Kiwi compete to decide which currency is worse.

Both Antipodean currencies have been suffering from crises of confidence, with both the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) suffering under the burden of sluggish growth within their respective economies and a lack of response to central bank stimulus. Both the RBA and the RBNZ are expected to remain flat on interest rates into 2020 by market estimates, and economic figures for both economies continues to slump and miss estimates despite “positive outlooks” from both countries. The RBNZ is especially weak-footed, with the central bank given 50/50 odds of making a further interest rate cut before a hike might take place.

Monday is a quiet showing for both currencies, and no data will be dropping until Tuesday, when the NZD will see the RBNZ’s Financial Stability Report at 21:00 GMT, followed by NZ Building Permits for the month of April at 22:45 GMT, which last printed at 14.7%.

AUD/NZD levels to watch

The AUD is struggling to continue its recovery against the Kiwi, climbing from April’s low of 1.0488 to test the waters near the 200-day SMA, currently sitting just below at 1.0880. After facing a downturn in early May to 1.0655, the AUD/NZD is now nearing resistance at the 61.8 Fibo level of 1.0985. There is a confluence between the 200-day SMA and the 50.0 Fibonacci retracement of the pair’s major decline from 1.1290 that began in October of 2017, 1.0890 could rotate to provide support if bulls can manage to deliver enough momentum to close over the area.