The Australian and New Zealand dollars came off recent lows on Monday against a downbeat greenback as investors battened down ahead of central bank meetings in the United States, Japan and UK as well as key data from China later this week.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 held at $0.7400, from a 1-1/2 year trough of $0.7318 touched earlier this month.
The Aussie has traded in a narrow range of $0.7311 to $0.7484 since mid-June. Technical analysts see critical chart support around $0.7320, a breach below could see sharp losses.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 rose 0.2 percent to $0.6798, after posting a weekly loss of 0.3 percent last week. It hit a two-year low low of $0.6688 earlier this month.
The kiwi, much like its Australian cousin, has stayed trapped in a small band of $0.6688 and $0.6859 in recent weeks.
The headwinds have largely come from the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade tensions. Australia and New Zealand stand to lose as China is their top trading partner and the antipodean currencies are often played as liquid proxies for Chinese assets.
But the two currencies got a slight leg up late Friday from a weaker greenback after U.S. gross domestic product data failed to enthuse markets. The dollar index .DXY was last at 94.718 after Friday's losses.
Investors are keeping their eyes peeled for a slew of macroeconomic data from China later this week including factory and services output.
Central banks in focus include the Bank of Japan, which ends a two-day meeting on Tuesday, and the Federal Reserve, which concludes its policy meeting on Wednesday. The Bank of England also makes a policy decision on Thursday.
In Australia, data on monthly building approvals, housing credit and retail sales are due in the week, while New Zealand will see building consents and jobs data.
"Today promises to be the calm before the storm of risk events with little in the way of tier 1 data or large risk events to move the markets," said Nick Twidale, analyst at Rakuten Securities Australia.
"Investors will keep a close eye on the newswires with particular focus on the upcoming central bank announcements and the now usual trade issues," he added.
"However expect range bound conditions to continue for the first couple of trading sessions at least."
New Zealand government bonds
0#NZTSY= gained, sending yields about 1 basis point lower across the curve.Australian government bond futures eased, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 off 2 ticks at 97.890. The 10-year contract YTCc1 slipped half a tick to 97.345.
