The New Zealand Dollar edged up slightly against the US Dollar and made continuing gains against the Pound and Euro as investors anxiously wait to see if the US Federal Reserve can calm the markets over speculation that it will begin tapering its monetary easing programme before the end of the year.
Investors are in a holding pattern until Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke holds a press conference at 18:00 pm GMT. Since the speculation over a wind down began the US Dollar has rallied at the expense of emerging and commodity based currencies.
“Our house view is that it’s too early to signal tapering, said Imre Speizer, market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Auckland.”Relief that there’s no tapering should then push up equities, push down the US Dollar and push up the Kiwi.”
Nobody is sure what action Bernanke will take and it is this volatility that has seen investors favour safe haven currencies.
“Nothing much will happen until the big event. It really comes down to the press conference and whether Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gives the idea there might be a policy change soon or later, that’s the main issue for markets,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank.
Elsewhere the New Zealand Dollar found support against its Australian relation, edging upwards after data showed a narrowing in the nation’s current account deficit and the first gain in whole milk powder prices in two months.
The next piece of data to be released for the ‘Kiwi’ is Thursday’s first quarter Gross Domestic Product data. The release of the HSBC flash report for Chinese factory activity also has the potential of affecting the New Zealand currency. China is New Zealand’s biggest export market so any negative data will have a knock affect for the ‘Kiwi’.
Current New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Exchange Rates
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8018
The New Zealand Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5983
The New Zealand Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5121
The New Zealand Dollar /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8425
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2471
The Pound Sterling/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.9524
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6712
The Australian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1869
The Canadian Dollar/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2218
(Correct as of 10:25 am GMT)
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