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Kiwi remains under pressure after mixed retail sales report

Daily Currency Update

NZD - New Zealand DollarThe New Zealand Dollar remains well and truly on the soft side as the Kiwi faces challenges domestically and internationally. Opening Wednesday’s Asian session at 0.6507, the Kiwi has kicked off the day with sluggish GDT data and soft credit card spending numbers at home but was ultimately surprised by a mixed retail sales report. Retail sales numbers released this morning showed a 0.7% expansion, a surprise of 0.1% against the expected result but was undermined by a fall in core retail sales. The result however keeps the Kiwi just above 0.65. Adding to Kiwi weakness was New Zealands largest trading partner across the Tasman with the RBA signalling the potential for a June rate cut. As the Aussie weakened the New Zealand Dollar also followed it lower. Moving into Wednesday the Kiwi finds itself with a slow economic calendar after the retail sales report was released earlier today. Direction will be driven from Australia and the US FOMC minutes early tomorrow morning.

Key Movers

The Great British Pound continued its’ negative run despite a spike during May’s new Brexit plan presentation. Opening this morning at 1.2705, the Sterling initially enjoyed a healthy recovery to 1.2813 but was ultimately unwound as the session continued. Prime Minister May’s new plan unfortunately didn’t help create any positive expectations and neither did it remove any political uncertainty. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also said that Labour cannot support the deal. Across the Atlantic, the Greenback also enjoyed some marginal gains after the US Commerce Department granted Huawei a temporary licence to buy goods until August 2019. The three-month window will also allow Huawei to maintain its existing networks and receive Android software updates to its existing mobile device, minimising disruptions for its customers are the world. Wall Street and the Greenback both benefited from the news.

Expected Ranges

  • NZD/AUD: 0.9416 - 0.9469 ▼
  • NZD/CAD: 0.8692 - 0.8756 ▼
  • NZD/EUR: 0.5862 - 0.5916 ▼
  • NZD/GBP: 0.5089 - 0.5163 ▲
  • NZD/USD: 0.6477 - 0.6535 ▼