Economic data from New Zealand was mixed today. While the NZ dollar rallied initially as traders paid more attention to the good part of the news, the currency retreated as of now, though it is still trading above the opening level.
New Zealand retail sales rose 2.7 percent during the first quarter of the year, exceeding market expectations of 1.6 percent growth. It was the biggest percentage increase since December 2006.
Meanwhile, the Business NZ manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index slipped by 2.8 percentage points to 51.8 in March. The report said that the relatively high value of the New Zealand currency was one of the reasons for the slower sector’s expansion.
NZD/USD was up from 0.7481 to 0.7500 as of 10:08 GMT today but retreated from the daily high of 0.7562. NZD/JPY backed off to 89.43 following the rally from 89.13 to 90.06.
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