The New Zealand dollar came under pressure in its domestic session today after reaching a near eight-week high on Monday night.Little reaction occurred to the main item on the economic calendar this week – the quarterly survey of business opinion (Q
The New Zealand dollar came under pressure in its domestic session today after reaching a near eight-week high on Monday night.
Little reaction occurred to the main item on the economic calendar this week – the quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) by the NZ Institute of Economic Research.
Investors took more note of a fall in the Australian dollar on weak economic data and comments about major currencies by a Chinese official.
The NZ dollar was at 73.99USc at 5pm, down from 74.28USc at 8am and 74.02USc at 5pm yesterday. It had risen to around 74.37USc on Monday night, the strongest since November 19.
Mike Jones, a currency strategist at BNZ, said the QSBO report was mixed and caused little reaction. If anything, the NZ dollar should have moved higher in response to the report.
"It had very little impact on currency markets, in part because there were some very mixed messages and perhaps markets were uncertain how to interpret it," Mr Jones said.
The Australian dollar fell on weaker than expected home loan data. The number of home loans in November dropped 5.6% from October, more than the small decline the market was expecting.
The Australian dollar was 92.60USc at 5pm from 93.14USc at 5pm yesterday.
"We sold off in line with the Aussie data," Mr Jones said.
The NZ dollar rose to 79.88Ac at 5pm from 79.45Ac at the same time yesterday.
Also, a Chinese official said the US dollar has hit bottom, which put pressure on a range of currencies, including the NZ dollar.
The NZ dollar rose to €0.5111 at 5pm from €0.5097 yesterday and was little changed at ¥68.26.
The trade weighted index was 66.96 at 5pm from 66.86 yesterday.
