Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Video | Agriculture | Confidence | Economy | Energy | Employment | Finance | Media | Property | RBNZ | Science | SOEs | Tax | Technology | Telecoms | Tourism | Transport | Search

 

NZ dollar gains 0.5% against greenback

NZ dollar gains 0.5% against greenback on week, treading water into weekend

By Rebecca Howard

Feb. 24 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar is heading into the end of the week up 0.5 percent against the US dollar, as the greenback struggled to gain any traction on ongoing jitters about the US, but stuck to a tight range on the day.

The kiwi was at 72.18 US cents as a 5pm in Wellington versus 72.27 cents as at 8am in Wellington and 72.01 cents late yesterday. It started the week at 71.84. The trade-weighted index rose to 78.40 from 78.26 at the beginning of the week, compared to 78.43 late yesterday.

The local currency benefited from a weaker US dollar this week after the market saw the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve as more dovish than anticipated. It got a further boost overnight after new US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated it would take time for fiscal policy reform to impact the US economy.

On the day, however, trading has been tepid. "The lack of data and any other influences mean it has ebbed and flowed" around resistance at 72.30 US cents, said Stuart Ive, senior foreign exchange dealer at OMF.

"Until we really know what's going on in the US these markets are somewhat subdued and nervous, partly because of the amount of time we are having to wait to see what the plans actually are," said Ive.

It continued to fare well against the Australian dollar, in particular after some weak data yesterday across the Tasman. It traded at 93.55 Australian cents from 93.65 cents late yesterday and from 93.53 early Monday.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe's testimony to a parliamentary committee "didn't offer anything new to the mix," Ive said.

With little data of note later in the global trading day, he said markets will just "fade into the weekend without too much direction." Looking ahead, he said next week's Australian gross domestic product figures and manufacturing data out of China may cause some reaction. "If both of those pieces of data come out solid and to the upside we may see the Australian dollar coming back and the kiwi struggle," he said.

It slipped to 57.51 British pence from 57.82 pence and was at 68.19 euro cents from 68.14 cents. The kiwi was at 81.39 yen from 81.55 yen and rose to 4.9586 yuan from 4.9531 yuan.

New Zealand's two-year swaps rose 2 basis points to 2.3 percent while 10-year swaps rose 1 basis point to 3.46.

(BusinessDesk)

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

 
GenPro: General Practices Begin Issuing Clause 14 Notices

GenPro has been copied into a rising number of Clause 14 notices issued since the NZNO lodged its Primary Practice Pay Equity Claim against General Practice employers in December 2023.More

SPADA: Screen Industry Unites For Streaming Platform Regulation & Intellectual Property Protections

In an unprecedented international collaboration, representatives of screen producing organisations from around the world have released a joint statement.More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.