PERTH: The New Zealand dollar gained against the Australian dollar after data showed slowing economic growth in Australia, while a pick-up in dairy prices soothed concerns about the outlook for local exports.
The kiwi rose to 90.46 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 89.41 cents yesterday. It traded at 63.62 US cents from 63.31 cents at 8am, and little changed from 63.74 cents yesterday.
Australia’s gross domestic product grew 0.2 percent in the three months ended June 30, according to the Bureau of Statistics. That was than half what economists were picking and the slowest quarterly expansion in two years, as falling commodity prices and tepid business investment held back production. A slowing Chinese economy is looming over Australia, which counts the world’s most populous nation as its biggest export destination, and a weak Chinese manufacturing gauge yesterday stoked investors’ concerns about Asia’s biggest economy.
Meantime, New Zealand’s currency got a boost from an 11 percent gain in dairy prices at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction as Fonterra Cooperative Group scales back the volume of product it puts up for sale. Government data this week showed an unexpected rise in the country’s terms of trade as a weaker kiwi stoked demand for local exports.
