New Zealand dollar gains on retail sales data

Story link: New Zealand dollar gains on retail sales data

With producer price inflation figures weaker than had been anticipated in the UK, sterling weakened in Monday trade. The new data shows that input prices were up just 0.7 percent in April. They had been expected to rise by 1 percent. Core output prices were up just 0.1 percent. The UK currency dropped 0.2 percent versus both the US dollar and the euro in mid-afternoon trade in New York, to $1.9800 and £0.6840 respectively.

The yen weakened as well, after China’s new policy allowing mainland investors to trade on overseas stock markets increased the demand for carry trades. The yen dropped 0.1 percent to ¥238.45 in relation to sterling, while it dropped 0.3 percent to ¥163.10 against the euro.

The euro added 0.1 percent in relation to the US dollar, to $1.3550 after industrial production in the Eurozone was up by more than had been expected. The greenback managed to make gains on the yen, however, adding 0.2 percent to ¥120.45 versus the Japanese currency.

The New Zealand dollar was up versus both the yen and the US dollar on new data showing that retail sales there were up by 1.3 percent in March. The gain was unexpected, as most analysts expected that sales would drop slightly in the month. The new figures made some analysts suspect that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand could raise interest rates again soon. The kiwi was 0.6 percent higher in relation to the greenback, to $0.7386, while it gained 0.9 percent to ¥88.93 versus the yen.