Commodity Currencies Gain Ground

Commodity currencies achieved reasonable gains following the recovery of oil prices and minimal drop of the US currency.

CAD and NZ dollars performed well in trading sessions where all principal currencies stayed within manageable range.

Meanwhile, the US dollar slackened to C$1.2428 from a peak of C$1.2545. The kiwi moved ahead (74 cents) up from $0.7325 and remained between $0.7288 and 0.7453.

The single currency was not affected significantly by the current negotiations regarding the Greek debt arbitration.

The euro recovered ($1.1326) after it found support during a one-week low of $1.1270.

However, it declined to 133.67 first versus the Japanese yen before it recovered to 134.31. The US dollar moved to 118.54.

The US note was softer at 94.568 and was not far from a high of 11 years which is 95.481.

Speculations that the central bank is determined to increase interest rates contributed partly to the recovery of the US dollar.

In Asia, concentration is on inflation data from China for the month of January. 

There can be apprehensions about China’s economic growth but this is also seen optimistically by some markets.