New Zealand dollar trades below 58 US cents
Daily Currency Update
The Kiwi dollar is slightly weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback. On Friday the NZD/USD pair tested the near 0.5830 level and stuck to the bottom end in the near term. New Zealand's Trade Balance figures on Thursday did little to spark faith in the NZD, while broader markets continue to focus on Federal Reserve (Fed) talking points. New Zealand's Trade Balance showed little change in the import-export balance for the small Antipodean nation, with September's annualized Trade Balance printing at $-15.33B compared to August's $-15.52B. The AUD/NZD finished up a strong trading week with the Aussie dollar gaining against the Kiwi dollar in its best single-week performance since early July, closing Friday up over 1.25% from Monday's opening bids. The Aussie's aggressive rise against the Kiwi sees the AUD/NZD eating away a majority of September and early October's losses, but bullish momentum is set to return to consolidation as the pair closed out the week.Looking ahead on the data front this week and there are no scheduled releases on Monday in New Zealand due to Labour Day bank holiday. Later on in the week on Friday the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will release its Statement of Intent which report includes the RBNZ's objectives for the next three years and the budget for the first year of that period and provides insights into the bank's strategic priorities for the next financial year.
Key Movers
The GBP/USD pair was looking to squeeze out some gains before the Friday closing bell, stretching into 1.2170 during the session on Friday. Despite a miss for UK Retail Sales earlier in the day, the Pound Sterling did benefit from a general softening in the US Dollar. British retail sales fell more than expected in September as shoppers avoided buying autumn clothing during unseasonably warm weather, against a backdrop of broader cost of living pressures that could see the economy shrink overall in the third quarter. Retail sales volumes dropped by 0.9% on the month after a 0.4% rise in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday, a much bigger decline than the 0.2% fall economists had forecast in a Reuters poll. Over the third quarter as a whole, sales volumes fell 0.8% - the biggest drop since the three months to the end of February and one exacerbated by an unusually wet July which upset normal summer spending patterns. Friday's data showed that the volume of goods bought in September was 3% lower than in 2019, despite shoppers spending 17% more. Overall consumer price inflation in Britain was an annual 6.7% in September, the highest of any major advanced economy.Expected Ranges
- NZD/USD: 0.5700 - 0.5900 ▼
- NZD/EUR: 0.5360 - 0.5530 ▼
- GBP/NZD: 2.0600 - 2.0800 ▲
- NZD/AUD: 1.0700 - 1.0900 ▼
- NZD/CAD: 0.7840 - 0.8040 ▼