Last week the Pound slumped against the ‘Kiwi’ after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand increased interest rates.
The New Zealand Dollar broadly strengthened after the central bank hiked borrowing costs for a second month, posting five-day gains against several of its major currency counterparts.
However, the Pound was also performing strongly thanks to better-than-expected UK retail sales data and the expectation that the recent upbeat UK employment report will push the Bank of England into adjusting fiscal policy.
Furthermore, higher-risk currencies like the ‘Kiwi’ came under pressure as the Ukraine crisis continued and pushed investors toward safe-haven assets.
The US and European Union are preparing to introduce additional sanctions against Russia as the tense situation continues for another week.
Losses in the GBP to NZD pairing were therefore limited and the Pound was able to regain the higher ground over the weekend.
The Ukraine situation also lessened the appeal of higher-risk assets like the ‘Kiwi’.
In the view of currency strategist Imre Speizer; ‘Risk aversion at the moment is capping the Aussie and Kiwi against the US.
People are loathe to sell the Kiwi below 85.50 cents and are not willing to take it back to the 87s while the Ukraine thing hangs around’.
Sterling was trading higher against the New Zealand Dollar after the Hometrack housing survey showed that home values climbed for a 15th month, advancing by 0.6 per cent. The report showed that prices increased in all ten of the regions monitored by Hometrack.
In a data-heavy week extensive Pound to New Zealand Dollar movement can be expected, and overnight fluctuations could be triggered by New Zealand’s trade balance report.
Tomorrow’s UK GDP data will also have a considerable impact on the GBP/NZD pairing. If the report shows that the UK economy expanded by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year, up from 0.7 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter, the Pound may surge against its peers.
Of course, investors will also be looking ahead to Friday and the all-important US non-farm payrolls report.
New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
New Zealand Dollar,
,US Dollar,0.8570,
New Zealand Dollar,,Euro,0.6204,
New Zealand Dollar,,Australian Dollar,0.9240,
New Zealand Dollar,,Pound Sterling,0.5087,
US Dollar,,New Zealand Dollar,1.1663 ,
Euro,,New Zealand Dollar,1.6176 ,
Australian Dollar,,New Zealand Dollar,1.0856,
Pound Sterling,,New Zealand Dollar, 1.9643,
[/table]
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