Sharechat Logo

NZ dollar advances after weak US retail sales weigh on interest rate outlook

Thursday 15th January 2015

Text too small?

The New Zealand dollar advanced after a weak US retail sales report for December increased speculation the Federal Reserve may delay its looming interest rate hike.

The kiwi rose to 77.20 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 77.03 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade weighted index was little changed at 78.64 from 78.63 yesterday.

US retail sales fell 0.9 percent in December and November's gain was revised lower to 0.4 percent. Copper prices slumped amid concerns about the prospects for the world economy as the World Bank cut its forecast for global growth, warning that the world economy remained overly reliant on the “single engine” of the US recovery. The kiwi touched a low of 76.88 US cents yesterday evening but rebounded to touch a high of 77.78 cents early this morning following the US data.

"The New Zealand dollar reluctantly followed the Australian dollar lower as the Australian dollar was driven lower by copper falls," ANZ Bank New Zealand chief economist Cameron Bagrie and senior FX strategist Sam Tuck said in a note. "Overnight saw stabilisation but an attempt to strengthen after weak US retail sales was rebuffed."

The kiwi will probably trade between 76.80 US cents and 77.90 cents today and may weaken as the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index for December and the Philadelphia Fed factory survey for January, scheduled for release tonight, should renew US optimism, according to ANZ.

In New Zealand today, data is due out on food prices for December, and the Real Estate Institute may publish its latest report on house prices.

The New Zealand dollar slipped to 94.77 Australian cents from 95.19 cents yesterday ahead of Australia's employment data for December.

The local currency advanced to 65.50 euro cents from 65.41 cents yesterday as the European common currency weakened following the European Court of Justice’s ruling that the European Central Bank's stimulus programme came within the ambit of monetary policy. The decision increased speculation the ECB may launch a quantitative easing programme at its meeting next week.

The kiwi fell to 50.71 British pence from 50.83 pence yesterday and dropped to 90.27 yen from 90.51 yen.

 

 

 

 

BusinessDesk.co.nz



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

PaySauce Quarterly Market Update - Dec 2024
CHI - FY24 Results Date and Audio Conference Details
AIA - December 2024 Monthly traffic update
January 15th Morning Report
PF - Details of Interim Results Webcast
Scott Secures NZ$18 million in Global Contracts for Protein
January 14th Morning Report
AFT - NEW YEAR LETTER TO INVESTORS
TruScreen Invited to Present WHO AI Collaboration Meeting
January 13th Morning Report