The New Zealand dollar arrested its recent slide against the greenback today as the market awaits tomorrow's gross domestic product figures.
Second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers are out tomorrow and economists are expecting growth of 0.8 per cent on the previous quarter and 2.3 per cent on the same quarter last year.
The kiwi took a hit yesterday after a $1.1 billion trade deficit was reported for August, well above economists' forecasts of $834 million. But the kiwi recovered slightly today, and by 5pm was fetching US68.28c from US68.19c at the same time yesterday.
But longer term the kiwi could soften further. BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said that from a technical perspective, the kiwi's break beneath US68.30c was ominous.
"A sustained hold below here would suggest the currency is on track to test key support in the US67c area," she said.
While it was slightly stronger against the US dollar, the kiwi continued to slide against the Australian dollar today, hitting A90.20c by 5pm down from A90.35c yesterday.
Apart from the GDP, the National Bank Business Outlook survey, which measures business confidence, will also be released early tomorrow morning.
The following are Reuters currency rates (5pm today and 5pm yesterday):
NZ dlr US68.28c US68.19c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A90.20c A90.35c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5674 0.5673
NZ dlr/yen 77.21 76.86
NZ dlr/stg 38.57p 38.52p
NZ TWI 69.37 69.30
Australian dollar US75.71c US75.46c
Euro/US dollar US1.2037 US1.2023
US dollar/yen 113.06 112.71
- NZPA, REUTERS
<EM>Currency</EM>: Kiwi halts slide
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