Kiwi stands still as markets wait for trade deal

The New Zealand dollar remained mired in the same narrow range it has been stuck in for the past fortnight, although with a slight bias to the upside.

That’s because global markets continue to await definitive news on whether China will retaliate after US President Donald Trump signed a bill supporting protesters in Hong Kong.

The kiwi was trading at US64.23c at 5pm yesterday from US64.14c at 8am and US64.22c at 5pm on Thursday. The tradeweighted index was at 71.22 from 71.15.

China’s response to the new US law has been limited so far and markets are hoping it won’t stop the two nations from signing a much-awaited preliminary trade deal.

Mike Shirley, a dealer at Kiwibank, said local data released yesterday — showing a slight improvement in consumer confidence and buoyant housing consents — had little impact on trading.

“It feeds into forecasts with everything else but it’s not a currency mover,” Shirley said.

The kiwi has traded between US64c and US64.37c for the past couple of weeks.

Shirley said the currency “has just wobbled”.

“It feels like it wants to break higher but we haven’t had anything to give it that little bit of an extra kick.”

The New Zealand dollar was trading at A94.83c from A94.78c, at 58.32 euro cents from 58.26, at 49.73 British pence from

49.67, at 70.32 yen from 70.23 yen, and at

4.5166 Chinese yuan from 4.5121 yuan. The two-year swap rate edged up to a bid price of 1.1326 per cent from 1.1195 per cent on Thursday while 10-year swaps rose to

1.4800 per cent from 1.4550 per cent.