New Zealand Dollar Knocked Back by Stronger USD, Weak NZ Business Confidence

 
  


By Rebecca Howard 
 

        WELLINGTON, New Zealand--The New Zealand dollar was under pressure late Friday after getting knocked back by the U.S. GDP number and then by New Zealand's business confidence data.
        Western Union Business Solutions Corporate Dealing Manager Chris Hunter noted that while U.S. growth was a bit lower than consensus "it still showed enough to keep the U.S. dollar bulls happy."
        The Kiwi then got knocked back when New Zealand business confidence hit a six-year low in July, with agriculture as the most pessimistic sector.
        A net 15.3% of respondents in the ANZ Business Outlook survey expected business conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, compared with a net 2.3% who had expected it to worsen in the June survey.
        "Last month's sombre read on business confidence has been succeeded by more solemn results," said ANZ Bank Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie.
        Confidence in the agriculture sector has been hard hit by the drop in dairy prices. Whole-milk powder prices are down 63% since February 2014, hitting the agriculture-dependent country hard. The central bank has flagged the dairy sector as a major risk to financial stability.
        Mr, Hunter said the Kiwi is "unlikely to move much further either way" until next week when investors will be watching for the GlobalDairyTrade auction and the U.S. jobs data.
        The New Zealand dollar was at US$0.6572 in late Wellington trading, compared with US$0.6633 late Thursday. It was at A$0.9021 versus A$0.9066 Thursday.
        Write to Rebecca Howard at rebecca.howard@wsj.com; @FarroHoward
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 31, 2015 03:08 ET (07:08 GMT)

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