New Zealand Dollar Bounces Back Against Most Majors
The New Zealand dollar that slipped against its U.S., European and Japanese counterparts in early Wednesday Asian trading recouped its losses in the latter part of the session as most Asian stocks rose today.
On the other hand, the NZ dollar eased from a 1-week high against the aussie.
Asian stock markets were mostly higher today, with gold miners outperforming, although many investors were on the sidelines ahead of the results of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.1%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat while South Korea’s Kospi Composite was 0.9% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.7%.
In other markets, New Zealand’s NZX-50 was up 0.3%, China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.6% and Taiwan’s main index was 1.4% higher. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 0.8% higher
The New Zealand dollar is currently trading near yesterday’s close of 0.7209 against the US currency and 65.14 against the yen, compared to early Asian session lows of 0.7172 and 64.68, respectively. If the kiwi advances further, it may target 65.9 against the yen and 0.727 against the greenback.
The Bank of Japan said today that the monetary base in Japan was up 4.4 percent on year in October, coming in at 92.86 trillion yen. That follows the 4.5 percent annual increase in September.
The New Zealand dollar gained against the euro after touching a low of 2.0528 at 9:15 pm ET Tuesday. At present, the euro-kiwi pair is worth 2.0450, compared to yesterday’s close of 2.0442. The next upside target level for the NZ currency is seen at 2.015.
The New Zealand dollar jumped to a 1-week high of 1.2427 against the Aussie at 7:30 pm ET Tuesday. Thereafter, the kiwi fell and the pair is presently trading near yesterday’s New York session close of 1.2538. On the downside, 1.2615 is seen as the next target level for the kiwi.
The release of weaker-than-expected Australian retail sales data earlier today prompted selling of the higher-yielding Australian dollar.
Retail sales in Australia eased a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, coming in at A$19.72 billion.
That was well below analyst expectations for a 0.5 percent monthly increase following the 0.7 percent gain in August that was revised down from 0.9 percent.
For the third quarter, retail sales were down 0.4 percent compared to the previous three months, standing at A$56.959 billion.
Investors are now likely to focus on the European session, in which the final services PMI report for October from the major European economies as well as the Euro-zone September PPI are due for release.
From the U.S., the ADP National Employment report, which sheds light on non-farm private employment, is scheduled to be released at 8:15 am ET. The report is usually released two days prior to the Labor Department’s employment report. The private sector is expected to have lost 190,000 jobs in October.
At 10:00 am ET, the ISM is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey. The non-manufacturing index is likely to show a reading of 51.5 for October.
The main focus of the day is the Federal Reserve’s statement at the end of its two-day meeting, with speculation it might drop or alter its pledge to keep rates low for an “extended period”.
The Fed is scheduled to make an announcement at 2:15 pm ET.
