New Zealand dollar continues to trade above US$0.59

Daily Currency Update

The Kiwi dollar is steady this morning when valued against the Greenback. The NZD/USD pair is struggling to find firmer footing after slipping to the US$0.5900 level through Tuesday’s market session, dipping from the day’s high of US$0.5921 as the US dollar takes a step higher against the Kiwi. Kiwi bulls are struggling to lift the pair from the year’s lows near US$0.5860, and sustained selling pressure will send the NZD tumbling back to 2022’s lows near the US$0.5600 handle. Overseas visitor arrivals into New Zealand continued to rebound a year on from fully opening the border, according to data released by Stats NZ yesterday. There were 213,800 overseas visitor arrivals in July 2023, 84 percent of the level in July 2019. By comparison overseas visitor arrivals in July 2022 were 52 percent of the July 2019 level. In July 2023, the number of overseas visitor arrivals from India and the Philippines also exceeded their July 2019 level. Other traditionally significant sources of visitors, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Korea, and Japan, ranged between 70 and 80 percent of their July 2019 level. China, the second largest source of overseas visitors pre-pandemic, was 56 percent of its July 2019 level.
Looking ahead today we will see the release of the Food Price Index (FPI) for the month. Although food is among the most volatile consumer price components, this indicator garners some attention because New Zealand's major inflation data is released on a quarterly basis. Finally, on Friday we will see the release of the BusinessNZ Manufacturing Index which is a survey of manufacturers that asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.