NZ dollar poised for mid-week dairy and jobs data
By Paul McBeth
Aug. 4 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar was little changed as a weaker-than-expected US employment report on
Friday sapped demand for the greenback, and left investors waiting for their cue from this week's dairy auction and
local jobs data, both due Wednesday morning local time.
The kiwi traded at 85.09 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 85.07 cents at 8am and 85.16 cents on Friday in New York.
The trade-weighted index was 79.73 from 79.67 last week.
The US added 209,000 jobs in July, missing economists' expectations by about 24,000 and sapping demand for the
greenback, which had been buoyed by a string of upbeat data last week. Economists were hoping the jobs report would
extend the run of strong US data, meaning the US Federal Reserve would start raising interest rates earlier than
expected.
"The data last week was pretty decent, but the one report everybody wanted to be strong was payrolls," said Sam Tuck,
senior FX strategist at ANZ Bank New Zealand in Auckland. "Long-term, US data should strengthen, but the kiwi is looking
a bit oversold, and consolidation would be healthy."
Traders are watching for Fonterra Co-operative Group's GlobalDairyTrade auction for another clue on how robust New
Zealand's biggest exporter is faring after prices fell to their lowest since December 2012 at the last fortnightly
event. The ANZ Commodity Price Index today showed whole milk powder prices led New Zealand commodity prices lower last
month.
New Zealand employment figures on Wednesday will also be watched, with analysts picking jobs growth and a lower
unemployment rate in the second quarter.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will review monetary policy tomorrow, and is expected to keep the key rate at 2.5 percent.
The kiwi slipped to 91.27 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 91.41 cents on Friday in New York.
The local currency traded at 87.34 yen from 87.38 yen last week, and was little changed at 63.41 euro cents from 63.40
cents. It edged down to 50.58 British pence at 5pm in Wellington from 50.63 pence on Friday in New York.
(BusinessDesk)