Australian, NZ Dollars Lower Amid Rising Risk Aversion

The Australian and NZ dollars moved down against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as rising U.S-China tensions and concerns about the economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic dampened sentiment.

Investors remained cautious due to the rising number of coronavirus cases worldwide, including a record single-day spike in new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

Markets shrugged off robust China GDP data in the second quarter.

The National Bureau of Statistics said that China's GDP advanced 3.2 percent on year in the second quarter of 2020, topping forecasts for an increase of 2.5 percent after tumbling 6.8 percent in the three months prior.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the Australian economy gained 210,800 jobs in June - blowing past expectations for the addition of 112,500 jobs following the loss of 227,700 jobs in May.

The unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 7.4 percent in June - in line with forecasts and up from 7.1 percent in the previous month.

The aussie dropped to 0.6983 against the greenback and 1.6328 against the euro, down from its previous highs of 0.7012 and 1.6266, respectively. Next immediate support for the aussie is likely seen around 0.68 against the greenback and 1.65 against the euro.

After rising to 75.00 against the yen and 0.9472 against the loonie in early deals, the aussie depreciated to 2-day lows of 74.68 and 0.9436, respectively. The next possible support for the aussie is located around 72.5 against the yen and 0.93 against the loonie.

The aussie eased back to 1.0652 against the kiwi, not far from a 2-day low of 1.0650 set at 6:45 pm ET. On the downside, 1.04 is possibly seen as its next support level.

The kiwi edged lower to 0.6552 against the greenback and 70.06 against the yen, off its early highs of 0.6578 and 70.33, respectively. The kiwi may challenge support around 0.63 against the greenback and 68.00 against the yen.

Pulling away from a 2-day high of 1.7343 recorded at 5:45 pm ET, the kiwi slipped to 1.7410 against the euro. The kiwi is poised to challenge support around the 1.78 mark.

Looking ahead, the European Central Bank will announce interest rate decision at 7:45 am ET. The ECB is expected to hold its main refi rate at a record low zero percent and the deposit rate at -0.50 percent.

U.S. retail sales for June, NAHB housing market index for July, business inventories for May and weekly jobless claims for the week ended July 11 will be featured in the New York session.