Bloomberg – The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose as Australian stocks advanced on anticipation interest-rate cuts worldwide will bolster global economic growth.
The currencies advanced against the yen as Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained for the fourth day, its longest winning streak since Aug. 12. Economists forecast the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce its benchmark rate to 5.5 percent tomorrow after house prices fell in the third quarter and manufacturing contracted at a record pace in October.
“The Aussie dollar has been following equity markets quite closely on global risk sentiment,” said Jim Vrondas, manager of corporate business at online foreign-exchange dealer OzForex Ltd. in Sydney. “If other Asian equity markets rally we might see a bit of late Asian, early European buying of the Aussie.”