The New Zealand dollar recovered against the other major currencies in the early Asian session and held steady thereafter on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand reduced its Official Cash Rate as expected by some economists.
Governor Graeme Wheeler reduced its Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points, to 3.00 percent from 3.25 percent, in line with expectations. The bank also said further easing is likely due to a weakening economic outlook, low inflation and a shaky global environment.
Wednesday, the NZ dollar showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the NZ dollar fell against the yen and the euro, it held steady against the U.S. and Australian dollars.
In the early Asian trading, the NZ dollar rose to an 8-day high of 1.1084 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday’s closing value of 1.1193 and held steady thereafter.
Against the U.S. dollar and the euro, the kiwi advanced to 2-day highs of 0.6652 and 1.6417 from yesterday’s closing quotes of 0.6571 and 1.6581, respectively. Thereafter, kiwi held steady against both the currencies.
Reversing from a 3-day low of 81.34 against the yen, the kiwi advanced to a 2-day high of 82.45 and held steady thereafter. At yesterday’s close, the kiwi was trading at 81.58 against the yen.
Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan had a merchandise trade deficit of 69.0 billion yen in June, belying expectations for a surplus.
Looking ahead, U.K. retail sales data and BBA mortgage approvals for June are slated for release at 4:30 am ET.
In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended July 18, U.S. leading indicators for June, Canada retail sales data for May and Eurozone flash consumer sentiment index for July are due to be released.
At 10:15 am ET, German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann is expected to speak about financial market integration from a central bank perspective in Frankfurt.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com