Australian and New Zealand’s dollars fell versus their US counterpart as the Moody's Investors Service put the major banks of these countries under review for possible downgrade on concern that wholesale funding will be constrained.

Australian banks in question are Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, and Westpac Banking Corp. The mentioned banks currently have Aa1 long-term, senior unsecured debt rating.

New Zealand’s banks in question are ANZ National Bank Ltd., ASB Bank Ltd., Bank of New Zealand, and Westpac New Zealand Ltd. The mentioned banks currently have Aa2 long-term senior unsecured debt and deposit ratings.

The ratings outlooks for ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac had been negative since March 2009, and NAB since August 2008, said Moody’s.

Analysts at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking expect Aussie’s and kiwi’s declines may be limited. The pair AUD/USD has returned above parity with the greenback, while the pair NZD/USD erased losses approaching the daily maximum.



Chart. H4 AUD/USD



Chart. H1 NZD/USD

More info about FBS