The New Zealand dollar rose as the expanding manufacturing sector and improving consumer confidence lead to speculations that the nation’s central bank will keep interest rates stable.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ seasonally adjusted PMI rose 4.8 points from December to 55.2 in January. It was the highest reading since May. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence measure climbed 2.7 points to 121 in February, reaching the 32-month high.
The New Zealand economy was showing signs of strength previously, so the positive data was not completely unexpected. Yet its extent surprised market participants to some degree.
NZD/USD climbed from 0.8451 to 0.8466 as of 6:16 GMT today, touching 0.8490 intraday — the strongest price since September 2011. NZD/JPY went up from 78.93 to 79.19.
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