The New Zealand dollar gained against the Australian dollar today after weaker than expected Australian retail sales data.It traded in a relatively narrow range against the greenback ahead of non-farm payrolls data on Friday, dipping slightly after the Na
The New Zealand dollar gained against the Australian dollar today after weaker than expected Australian retail sales data.
It traded in a relatively narrow range against the greenback ahead of non-farm payrolls data on Friday, dipping slightly after the National Bank Business Outlook survey showed confidence had slipped.
BNZ strategist Danica Hampton said that when people looked at the detail of the survey they found it was consistent with a stable picture.
"Really the kiwi has traded in a tight range. It's been a very slow day," she said.
The NZ dollar was 70.94USc at 5pm from 70.98USc at 8am and 71.05USc at 5pm yesterday. It had peaked on Wednesday night around 71.30USc, its highest level since March 19.
It rose to be 77.53Ac at 5pm from 77.24Ac at 8am and 77.32Ac at 5pm yesterday.
"Retail sales data in Australia was disappointing," Ms Hampton said.
The Australian dollar shed half a US cent after news that retail sales fell 1.4% in February when the market was expecting a 0.2% rise.
The NZ dollar was at €0.5291 from €0.5268 yesterday, and ¥66.25 from ¥65.50. The trade weighted index rose to 66.19 at 5pm from 65.99 yesterday.
