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Australia, NZ dollars bounce as market wagers on Fed contenders
The Australian and New Zealand dollars bounced on Wednesday as their U.S. counterpart gave back some of its recent gains amid speculation about who might be the next chair of the Federal Reserve. The Aussie popped up 0.4 percent to $0.7864, having touched a three-month trough at $0.7785 overnight. The kiwi likewise rallied 0.5 percent to $0.7193 and away from a one-month low at $0.7147. The pullback was linked to reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin favoured Fed Governor Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chair. That was a change from recent talk that former Fed Governor and well-known hawk ... (full story)