The New Zealand dollar climbed today with the help of very positive employment data that made New Zealand assets more attractive to investors. The currency lost its upward momentum (though stayed above the opening level) after a report that showed decline of the services sector.
New Zealand employment grew 0.8 percent in the third quarter of 0.8, above the analysts’ projections of 0.6 percent. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 5.4 percent — more than was expected. At the same time, wage price inflation remained the same, in line with expectations.
Released later during the current trading session, the seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Services Index dropped as much as 1.8 points to 43.6 points in October, demonstrating the eighth monthly decline and reaching the lowest level since August 2013.
The NZ dollar surged after the positive employment report but retreated a bit after not-so-good data came out. The currency was moving mostly sideways in October, and it is not yet clear where it will go this month.
NZD/USD advanced from 0.7810 to 0.7828 as of 3:37 GMT today, reaching the daily high of 0.7841. EUR/NZD was down from 1.6053 to 1.6002 before trading at 1.6046. NZD/JPY climbed from 88.72 to 88.96.
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