NZ dollar falls as rally runs out of puff ahead of payrolls data

Friday 3rd February 2017

The New Zealand dollar continued to ease back Friday ahead of a three-day weekend on signs that a recent rally may be running out of steam.

The kiwi dollar fell to 72.73 US cents as at 5 pm from 72.85 at 8 am and 72.98 US cents late Thursday. It fell to 95.10 Australian cents versus 95.52 Australian cents as the Aussie continued to benefit from stellar trade data this week.

Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets, noted the kiwi has rallied around 6 percent since late December but "it's been fairly stagnant today. The Kiwi dollar is making signs of a bit of a top at the moment," he said. "We are starting to see signs that the momentum is waning."

Looking ahead, he said the market is waiting for jobs data out of the US, later in the global trading day. Weston said the impact of a better-than-expected number will be greater than the impact of a weak number. He said the market is expecting around 175,000 and a high number will push the dollar higher. He said anything around 210,000 will mean people start talking about whether the US Federal Reserve "is behind the curve" and whether March is a live meeting, he said.

The kiwi continued to gain against the British pound as traders in Asia pulled back on expectations of a British hike in interest rates this year after overnight comments from the BoE. The BoE left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25 percent but the pound fell when it was slightly less hawkish than expected. The kiwi traded at 58.09 British pence from 57.59 pence late Thursday.

The trade-weighted index was at 79.12 from 79.35 The kiwi was at 4.9972 yuan from 5.0180 yuan and at 67.62 euro cents from 67.59 cents and at 82.24 yen from 82.23 yen,

New Zealand's two-year swap rate fell 4 basis points to 2.36 points while the 10-year swaps fell 3 basis points to 3.54 percent.

New Zealand markets are closed Monday for Waitangi Day.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet