Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar tumbled against its U.S. counterpart during Thursday’s Asian session following some glum employment data.
In Asian trading Thursday, NZD/USD slid 0.42% to 0.8362. The pair violated support at 0.8396, the low of February 1 while resistance is spotted at 0.8466, the high of February 5.
Earlier today, Statistics New Zealand said employment there fell by 1%, or 23,000 jobs, in the fourth quarter. New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9% from 7.3% due to fewer folks seeking employment.
Analysts expected the employment rate there to rise by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. The unemployment rate of 6.9% is New Zealand’s lowest in eight years. Youth unemployment rose to 14.2%. That figure includes those ages 15 to 24.
Due to an unemployment rate that is still viewed as high and tepid wage growth, market participants view the chances of New Zealand’s central bank hiking interest rates this year as slim. ASB Bank said it expects Reserve Bank of New Zealand to keep rates as they are until March 2014, according to New Zealand media reports.
Despite the slack jobs data out of New Zealand, some analysts noted employment data is a lagging indicator and that the broader outlook for New Zealand’s economy is encouraging. Still, the falling kiwi can be seen as welcome respite for the country’s manufacturing firms, which have implored policymakers there to move to weaken the currency.
Traders will now turn their attention to Chinese data points due out tomorrow that could impact the New Zealand dollar. On Friday, China is scheduled to report inflation and trade data. The world’s second-largest economy is one of New Zealand’s largest trading partners.
Elsewhere, AUD/NZD climbed 0.37% to 1.2339 while EUR/NZD gained 0.29% to 1.6158. NZD/JPY fell 0.60% to 78.15.
In Asian trading Thursday, NZD/USD slid 0.42% to 0.8362. The pair violated support at 0.8396, the low of February 1 while resistance is spotted at 0.8466, the high of February 5.
Earlier today, Statistics New Zealand said employment there fell by 1%, or 23,000 jobs, in the fourth quarter. New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9% from 7.3% due to fewer folks seeking employment.
Analysts expected the employment rate there to rise by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. The unemployment rate of 6.9% is New Zealand’s lowest in eight years. Youth unemployment rose to 14.2%. That figure includes those ages 15 to 24.
Due to an unemployment rate that is still viewed as high and tepid wage growth, market participants view the chances of New Zealand’s central bank hiking interest rates this year as slim. ASB Bank said it expects Reserve Bank of New Zealand to keep rates as they are until March 2014, according to New Zealand media reports.
Despite the slack jobs data out of New Zealand, some analysts noted employment data is a lagging indicator and that the broader outlook for New Zealand’s economy is encouraging. Still, the falling kiwi can be seen as welcome respite for the country’s manufacturing firms, which have implored policymakers there to move to weaken the currency.
Traders will now turn their attention to Chinese data points due out tomorrow that could impact the New Zealand dollar. On Friday, China is scheduled to report inflation and trade data. The world’s second-largest economy is one of New Zealand’s largest trading partners.
Elsewhere, AUD/NZD climbed 0.37% to 1.2339 while EUR/NZD gained 0.29% to 1.6158. NZD/JPY fell 0.60% to 78.15.