The NZD was trading largely unchanged late Thursday after the release of surprisingly weak fourth quarter Consumer Price Index data led to some selling in the local unit. NZD touched a high of US$0.8081 prior to the release of the CPI data, but fell sharply following the release. Data from Statistics New Zealand showed Thursday that the CPI fell 0.3% on quarter in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from a 0.4% rise in the third quarter and well below a median forecast of a 0.3% rise in a Dow Jones Newswires. The index rose 1.8% on year, also below expectations for a 2.6% rise.
New Zealand government bonds rallied strongly following the Debt Management Office’s weekly bond tender. A local trader said going into the tender there had been talk there was limited demand but this proved incorrect. The New Zealand Debt Management Office said it received NZ$800 million worth of bids for the NZ$100 million worth of March 2019 bonds it had on offer.
EasyForexNews Research Team