NZ dollar holds above 83 US cents after US payrolls, other data mixed

Monday 10th December 2012

The New Zealand dollar held above 83 US cents, having rallied in New York on Friday following figures showing the US economy added more jobs than expected and the jobless rate fell. Weaker US consumer sentiment capped the gains.

The New Zealand dollar fell to 83.12 US cents from 83.24 cents in late New York trading on Friday. The trade-weighted index was at 74.47 from 74.51.

The US economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent, the lowest in four years. That was partly offset by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index, which showed consumer sentiment for December dropped more than expected to 74.5.

"Sentiment was slightly firmer overall, thanks to a consensus-beating US payrolls report," said Imre Speizer, a strategist at Westpac Banking Corp.

Helping lift sentiment, figures over the weekend showed China's Industrial production rose 10.1 percent in November from a year earlier while retail sales jumped 14.9 percent.

The kiwi dollar gained to 64.49 euro cents from 64.39 cents and slipped to 51.82 British pence from 51.91 pence. The local currency fell to 79.24 Australian cents from 79.41 cents and traded at 68.54 yen from 68.62 yen.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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