The NZD was trading higher late Tuesday, buoyed by better-than-expected Chinese gross domestic product data mid-afternoon. China’s GDP rose 8.9% on the year in the fourth quarter, slower than the third quarter’s 9.1% growth, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The figure, though, was higher than the median forecast of economists, a rise of 8.6%.
NZD had earlier pushed slightly lower after the New Zealand Institute Of Economic Research released its fourth-quarter business opinion survey. Business confidence weakened in the fourth quarter, with the number of businesses expecting conditions to improve in the next six months matching those predicting conditions would worsen, the data showed. Economists said the data provided no impetus for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to begin hiking the official cash rate.
Investor focus, though, remains firmly on Europe.
EasyForexNews Research Team