NZ dollar little changed after rebound on dairy auction as Yellen awaited

Wednesday 6th April 2016

The New Zealand dollar was little changed, having rebounded from an earlier decline when the GlobalDairyTrade auction showed a gain in prices, as traders look ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen for clues to the timing of US interest rate hikes.

The kiwi dollar traded at 68.13 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, from 68.0 cents late yesterday. It fell as low as 67.67 cents before the auction results were posted. The trade-weighted index advanced to 72.21 from 71.93 yesterday.

Yellen is scheduled to speak on Thursday (Friday morning in New Zealand) after giving what some saw as a dovish speech last week, in comparison to a number of colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee who have signalled they want to get on with raising interest rates again this year. In New Zealand, the next key economic data will be the March quarter consumer price index on April 18, which may help market participants decide whether the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate on April 28 or hold off until June 9.

"A bit of a divide has opened up on the FOMC," said Imre Speizer, strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. "Yellen has cited global risks but if anything the global risks have abated."

The kiwi earlier strengthened after dairy product prices rose for the second time in the seven auctions held so far this year. The GDT price index rose 2.1 percent, while the average price for whole milk powder, New Zealand's key product, rose 1.5 percent to US$2,013 a tonne.

The New Zealand dollar rose to 90.12 Australian cents from 89.31 cents yesterday and gained to 48.13 British pence from 47.70 pence. It fell to 75.16 yen from 75.40 yen and rose to 59.93 euro cents from 59.70 cents. It traded at 4.4127 yuan from 4.3988 yuan.

The two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.16 percent and the 10-year swaps were steady at 2.92 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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