NZ dollar gains as greenback falls
The New Zealand dollar advanced as weak US data stoked speculation the Federal Reserve will be cautious in hiking US interest rates further.
The New Zealand dollar advanced as weak US data stoked speculation the Federal Reserve will be cautious in hiking US interest rates further.
The kiwi gained to 64.69USc at 8am in Wellington, from 64.44USc at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index edged up to 71.01 from 70.91 yesterday.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, touched its lowest level in almost two weeks after US durable goods orders unexpectedly slumped 5.1% last month, raising concern about a weak US fourth-quarter gross domestic product report today and stoking speculation the Fed won't be in a hurry to raise interest rates further. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.6% drop in orders. Commodity prices rose, buoying currencies tied to their fortunes, including the kiwi, Aussie and Canadian dollars.
The "big miss on US durable goods reflects weakness in manufacturing and oil, and bring more questions over path for the Fed," ANZ Bank New Zealand chief economist Cameron Bagrie and senior foreign exchange strategist Sam Tuck said in a note. "It all adds up to a Fed on hold for now. Weaker US durable goods and a continued unwind of global 'fear' helped to lift the $NZ/$US."
ANZ expects the kiwi to trade between 64.10USc and 65.60USc today.
Building consent data for December is scheduled for release this morning.
The New Zealand dollar slipped to 91.40Ac from 91.56Ac yesterday, weakened to 58.99 euro cents from 59.14 cents, and dropped to 44.97 British pence from 45.24 pence. It advanced to ¥76.78 from ¥76.50 yesterday and gained to 4.2530 yuan from 4.2382 yuan.
(BusinessDesk)
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Tina Morrison
Fri, 29 Jan 2016
Fri, 29 Jan 2016
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NZ dollar gains as greenback falls
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