The New Zealand dollar gained today after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand released the Financial Stability report. Gains were limited, though, as market participants were waiting for new developments in the trade war between the United States and China.
The RBNZ stated in its semiannual Financial Stability Report released overnight:
New Zealandâs financial system risks have eased, but remain high. Slower mortgage lending growth and house price inflation have reduced risk. We are able to ease our mortgage lending restrictions and monitor banksâ behaviour.
Indeed, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said in the statement accompanying the Report:
In response, we are easing our loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions on banksâ new mortgage loans. If banksâ lending standards are maintained we expect to further ease LVR restrictions over the next few years.
While the news was positive, traders were reluctant to buy the relatively risky currency of New Zealand ahead of the Group of Twenty meeting over the weekend. Market participants were waiting for the outcome of the meeting between the US and China leaders.
NZD/USD edged up from 0.6785 to 0.6795 as of 11:28 GMT today, touching the high of 0.6806 intraday. EUR/NZD opened at 1.6621, fell to the daily low of 1.6575, but bounced to 1.6611 later. NZD/JPY was at 77.27 after opening at 77.23 and rising to the daily high of 77.46.
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