WSJ:New Zealand Dollar Higher Late, but in a Tight Range
WELLINGTON--The New Zealand dollar was trading higher late Friday but was sticking to a tight range due to a dearth of drivers.
Tim Kelleher, ASB's head of FX institutional sales New Zealand, said he expects the Kiwi to remain in a US$0.8050-US$0.8125 range in the short term due to the lack of drivers.
"It's been a deathly quiet day and a deathly quiet week," he said, noting the pair had moved in a 22-point range on the day.
With very little data later in the global trading day, "unless something comes up from the euro zone out of left field that we don't know about, or the data is significantly worse or something happens on Wall Street, which is looking flat, it will struggle to go too far," Mr. Kelleher said.
BNZ FX Strategist Kymberly Martin noted that while trading is quiet, a break above US$0.8110 would open the way for a return to US$0.8200. Looking ahead, markets will be watching for euro-zone trade data and the University of Michigan Confidence Indicator in the U.S., she said.
Government bonds ended a tad higher as the New Zealand market tracked a move in Australian and U.S. rates in the Asian session, a local bond trader said.