New Zealand’s dollar touched a two- month high as a report showed China’s inflation cooled for the fifth straight month in December, increasing speculation the Asian nation will provide more monetary stimulus. The so-called kiwi held a three-day gain versus the greenback and the yen before data that may show U.S. retail sales grew, supporting demand for riskier assets. The Australian dollar was little changed as Spain and Italy prepared to auction debt this week amid concern Europe’s fiscal crisis is worsening. “I think inflation is still cooling and that’s going to provide scope for Chinese authorities to support markets and the economies more,� said Jonathan Cavenagh, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Singapore. “Both the Aussie and kiwi still continue to do quite well against the U.S. dollar.� New Zealand’s currency gained to 79.81 U.S. cents, the highest since Nov. 9, before trading at 79.65 at 1:42 p.m. in Sydney, little changed from yesterday’s close in New York. It earlier rose to 61.35 yen, also the most since Nov. 9, before changing hands at 61.243 yen from 61.25. Australia’s dollar traded at $1.0304 from $1.0310 yesterday and fetched 79.21 yen from 79.24. It was at 80.98 euro cents from 81.14 yesterday, when it reached a record high of 81.20. China’s consumer prices rose 4.1 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing today. That compares with the median estimate of 4 percent in a Bloomberg News survey and 4.2 percent in November. The People’s Bank of China in November cut the amount of cash that lenders need to set aside as reserves, the first reduction since 2008. Sales at U.S. retailers probably climbed 0.3 percent in December, following a 0.2 percent gain in November, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists before the Commerce Department issues the figure today. Spain will sell bonds due in 2015 and 2016 today. Italy will auction bills today and debt due in 2014 and 2018 tomorrow. To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Garfield Reynolds at greynolds1@bloomberg.net

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