The New Zealand Dollar is trading softer against the Pound but managed to trade to a fresh three-week high to come close to a five-year high against its Australian relation.
The currency softened against Sterling after a report showed that the nation’s housing market cooled slightly in December.
Against the Japanese Yen the ‘Kiwi’ touched a six-year high as upcoming data releases from the USA piled pressure upon the Yen. Wednesday’s session sees the release of key employment data and the publication of the minutes for the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting, which is expected to show when policy makers will begin tapering of its monetary easing programme.
A reduction in the Fed programme will weigh upon the New Zealand currency as well as other commodity and emerging market currencies.
The gains against the ‘Aussie’ come as economists see a divergence between the two Oceanic nation’s economies. New Zealand’s Reserve Bank is expected to raise interest rates as early as this month while Australia could cut rates this year, prompting investors to place so called “long” bets on the ‘Kiwi’, anticipating it will rise against the ‘Aussie’.
“Offshore fund managers put on some of their bets for the year in the first week in January, so obviously long kiwi short Aussie is still going to be the preferred trade at this stage,” said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales New Zealand at ASB Bank.
Against the Euro the ‘Kiwi’ firmed after data showed that unemployment rose in Italy, raising concerns that Eurozone unemployment data due to be released later in the session rose in November.
Current New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates:
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8276
The New Zealand Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6086
The New Zealand Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5038
The New Zealand Dollar /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9283
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2082
The Pound Sterling/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.9844
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6428
The Australian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0771
The Canadian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1160
(Correct as of 09:45 am GMT)
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