WELLINGTON--The New Zealand dollar was lower late Monday in Asia-Pacific, due to profit-taking following last week's strong rally in the local currency.
The Kiwi rose to US$0.8355 Friday, its highest since March, after the U.S. Federal Reserve Thursday announced another round of quantitative easing.
WBC.AU +1.29% Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer said profit-taking started in the last couple hours of Friday's New York session and continued throughout the Asian session Monday.
"The pair requires a little more [downward] correction... then I think the upward trend will continue," he added.
Data released earlier in the day showed New Zealand consumer confidence had picked up slightly in September but remained weak. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index, which is done every three months, rose to 102.5 from 99.9 in June. However, the data had no impact on the Kiwi as macroeconomic events continued to give direction.
Westpac economist Dominick Stephens said that while there are concerns overall confidence remains low, the slight improvement in people's reported willingness to spend has been matched with a pick-up in retail activity in the first half of the year.
Looking ahead, investors will be focusing on data due out this week on New Zealand's second-quarter gross domestic product and its balance of payments. The median forecast in a Wall Street Journal poll of 11 economists was for a 0.3% rise in second-quarter GDP, while another poll of 10 economists predicted a current-account deficit of 1.3 billion New Zealand dollars (US$1.1 billion) in the second quarter.
New Zealand government bonds fell while interest-rate swaps rose, tracking moves in the U.S. Treasury market, said a local trader.
Write to Lucy Craymer at lucy.craymer@dowjones.com
