AUROA: The New Zealand dollar gained against its trans-Tasman counterpart after weaker-than-expected Australian retail and trade data sucked out some of the optimism from yesterday’s first-quarter growth that beat forecasts.
The kiwi dollar rose to 92.20 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 92 cents immediately before the release and was up from 91.96 cents yesterday. The local currency declined to 71.29 US cents from 71.46 cents at 8am and 71.69 cents yesterday.
The Australian dollar fell after Bureau of Statistics figures showed April retail sales were little changed from a month earlier, missing expectations for growth of 0.3 percent, while trade figures showed a record of A$3.89 billion as storms kept coal ports closed and reduced the nation’s exports. The downbeat data eroded optimism from yesterday’s better-than-expected gross domestic product expansion in the first quarter, which reinforced speculation the Reserve Bank of Australia won’t cut interest rates further after holding the cash rate steady at 2 percent earlier this week.
