After trading in a narrow range against several of its major currency peers over the past few weeks the New Zealand Dollar was finally able to post notable gains overnight as domestic data impressed.
Retail card spending may have risen by less than expected (climbing 0.6 per cent rather than the 1.0 per cent forecast) but card spending on the whole rallied 1.0 per cent in December, month-on-month, following an advance of 0.2 per cent in November.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed that business confidence in New Zealand jumped to a 20-month high, achieving a level of 52 in the fourth quarter.
In the aftermath of the data’s publication the New Zealand Dollar strengthened against several of its major peers, including the Euro.
Additional EUR/NZD movement occurred following the release of Germany’s wholesale price index.
Wholesale prices advanced 0.4 per cent at the close of last year rather than the 0.2 per cent expected.
On the year, wholesale prices declined 1.8 per cent rather than dropping by 2.1 per cent as expected.
As the day progresses the Euro could recover losses against its New Zealand counterpart if the Eurozone’s industrial production report shows improvement.
Economists have forecast that industrial output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.4 per cent in November, month-on-month, wiping out October’s decline of 1.1 per cent.
On the year industrial production jumped by 1.8 per cent.
Today’s US advance retail sales report could inspire widespread market movement. Given that Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report failed to meet expectations, if today’s retail sales figures also fall short of estimates(further undermining the case for the Federal Reserve tapering stimulus) the ‘Greenback’ could extend recent declines.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3690 ,
Euro,,British Pound,0.8340 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.5171 ,
Euro,,New Zealand Dollar,1.6285 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.4902 ,
[/table]
