The New Zealand dollar rose ahead of third-quarter inflation data tomorrow which is expected to be weak enough to keep the Reserve Bank on track to cut interest rates next month.
The kiwi rose to 71.09 US cents as at 8am in Wellington from 70.84 cents in late New York trading on Friday. The trade-weighted index rose to 76.48 from 76.18.
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The consumers price index didn't budge in the third quarter and rose just 0.1 per cent year-on-year, according to economists at Bank of New Zealand. That's weaker than the Reserve Bank was projecting in its August monetary policy statement. RBNZ assistant governor John McDermott said last week that the bank's current assumptions "indicate that further policy easing will be required to ensure that future inflation settles" within the bank's 1 percent-to-3 per cent target range. Traders have increased bets the bank will cut the official cash rate to 1.75 per cent at its next MPS on November 10.