Like the euro, the high yielding Australian dollar enjoyed yet another strong advance against its struggling US counterpart that brought AUD/USD to a new 23-year high just below 0.95. While this impressive advance is still largely based on the diverging expectations for Australian interest rates – in contrast to US interest rates – there was some new data to contribute to bull’s push. Business investment through the fourth quarter rebounded 5.1 percent after marking its sharpest contraction in 8 years. The New Zealand trade account on the other hand, quickly erased its first surplus in seven months with a NZ$320 million shortfall in January.
