The New Zealand dollar started a rally by the end of the previous trading session and extended it today. While the kiwi had halted the advance after the release of the manufacturing data, the currency has resumed its upward movement afterwards.
The seasonally adjusted BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index rose from 51.1 in December to 55.6 in January. While the report looked good at first glance, BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that it actually tells another story:
The proportion of positive comments in January (50.7%) was down by a fair margin compared with December (63.3%) and November (65.1%). While seasonal factors such as Christmas and holidays are typically mentioned around this time of year, those outlining negative comments have also focussed on recent uncertainty that has led to softening activity and a slow start to the year for some.
NZD/USD traded at 0.7408 as of 11:18 GMT today after opening at 0.7404 and rising to the daily high of 0.7436 — the highest level since January 24. EUR/NZD declined from 1.6874 to 1.6841, retreating from the daily high of 1.6924.
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