CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars fell against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, as most Asian shares fell, tracking a decline on Wall Street, amid concerns over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant and caution ahead of the monetary policy meeting by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed will begin its two-day meeting later in the day, with policy makers expected to announce a faster tapering of its asset purchase programme.
Investors hope that the Fed could bring forward the possible timing of the rate hike into 2022.
The monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are also due this week.
The United Kingdom reported the first death of a person infected with the Omicron variant, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared an 'Omicron emergency' in the country.
New South Wales, the most-populous state of Australia, reported more than 800 cases, marking the highest new daily cases since October 2.
The aussie weakened to 1-week lows of 0.7090 against the greenback, 80.48 against the yen and 1.5908 against the euro, after rising to 0.7134, 81.04 and 1.5808, respectively in early deals. The aussie is likely to find support around 0.68 against the greenback, 78.00 against the yen and 1.62 against the euro.
The aussie reversed from an early high of 1.0563 against the kiwi, dropping to 1.0524. On the downside, 1.03 is possibly seen as its next support level.
The kiwi depreciated to more than a 1-year low of 0.6735 against the greenback, 1-week lows of 76.44 against the yen and 1.6744 against the euro, down from its early highs of 0.6759, 76.73 and 1.6683, respectively. If the kiwi drops further, 0.66, 74.00 and 1.70 are seen as its next support levels against the greenback, the yen and the euro, respectively.
Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial production for October is due in the European session.
In the New York session, U.S. PPI for November is scheduled for release.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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