New Zealand dollar trades above 60 US cents
Daily Currency Update
The Kiwi dollar is slightly stronger this morning when valued against the Greenback. NZD/USD trades higher for the second successive session, trading near 0.6060 during the European session on Friday. The NZD/USD pair is propelled by the better-than-expected release of Retail Sales figures from New Zealand. The figures showed unexpected stability, printing a flat 0.0% reading during the third quarter of 2023. Market expectations were for a 0.8% decline in the headline figure. Retail Sales excluding automobiles surpassed consensus estimates, defying expectations of a 1.5% fall and instead rising by 1.0% during the reported period. However, Retail NZ says Black Friday sales were down by about 10 percent this year. Carolyn Young, the chief executive of the advocacy group, said the American tradition of Black Friday sales, held the day after Thanksgiving, has become increasingly important for retailers and shoppers in New Zealand over the past five years. She said stores she spoke to told her this year there were plenty of shoppers out and about, but they were buying less. Increasing interest rates have led to increased rents and mortgages for people, which means there is less money to go around for discretionary spending. The NZD/USD pair is currently trading at 0.6048 at time of writing. All eyes this week will be on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) policy meeting.Key Movers
The Greenback closed the week down on Friday with the DXY index, which measures the value of the US Dollar versus a basket of global currencies, declining toward 103.45 on the back of mixed S&P PMIs and dovish bets on the Fed. In November, the S&P Global Composite PMI remained stable at 50.7, signaling slight growth in the US private sector. Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.4, indicating a shift into contraction, and the Services PMI increased marginally to 50.8. Looking ahead this week on the US front, housing data, consumer confidence, GDP, Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and ISM Manufacturing PMI.The Pound Sterling advances to a new 12-week high against the Greenback courtesy of better-than-expected data revealed on Thursday, which sparked a sell-off of the US dollar and as a result UK bond yields rose. British consumers have turned more optimistic about the outlook for the economy and their personal finances this month but their mood remains a long way off pre-COVID levels, market research firm GfK said on Friday. Despite lingering cost-of-living pressures, GfK's headline consumer confidence index was stronger than anticipated in November, increasing to -24 from October's three-month low of -30. November's reading was above the -28 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and follows a sharp fall the month before. The six-point increase was the biggest month-on-month improvement since March to April although Friday's reading was still much weaker than just before the coronavirus pandemic hit Britain.
Expected Ranges
- NZD/USD: 0.5950 - 0.6150 ▲
- NZD/EUR: 0.5430 - 0.5630 ▲
- GBP/NZD: 2.0550 - 2.0750 ▲
- NZD/AUD: 1.0650 - 1.0850 ▼
- NZD/CAD: 0.8140 - 0.8340 ▼