The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars weakened against the dollar on Thursday as commodity prices tumbled and rising interest-rate expectations bolstered the greenback. The Australian dollar tumbled 1.4% to 75.71 cents, its weakest level in a month, its largest one-day drop since Dec. 15, the day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates at its December meeting. By comparison, it traded at 76.75 cents late Wednesday. The New Zealand dollar fell 1.14% to 70.63 cents, compared with 71.45 cents. The dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.3392, its strongest level in two months, compared with C$1.3329 late Wednesday. In recent days, a bevy of Fed officials have talked up the likelihood that the central bank will raise interest rates at its meeting later this month, sending market-based expectations of a hike to 80%, according to CME Group data. “I think its an overall very dollar positive market right now,” said Juan Perez, a currency trader at Tempus Inc. The price of a barrel of oil fell 2.2% to $52.63 in recent trade. The three dollars are commonly referred to as the “commodity dollars” because Canada, Australia and New Zealand are all major commodity exporters.
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