New Zealand Dollar Trading in a Tight Range

   By Lucy Craymer

        WELLINGTON, New Zealand--The New Zealand dollar remains in a tight range as focus turns to a number of events over the next 24 hours including New Zealand inflation data, the dairy auction and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's bi-annual congressional testimony.

        Stuart Ive, a private client manager at New Zealand trading firm OM Financial, said the Kiwi is failing to gain upside traction following weaker-than-expected U.S. data overnight, as the market awaits the GlobalDairyTrade auction, with expectations that prices will fall more.

        "Tonight's [auction] is unlikely to change that trend given recent price action in the futures market," he said. Dairy prices have a considerable impact on the New Zealand dollar, as dairy makes up about 30% of the country's exports.

        Also, second-quarter consumer price data due Thursday remains key. Mr. Ive said if it is weak, it will fuel speculation that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will cut rates at next week's rate's meeting.

        The median from The Wall Street Journal's poll of 14 economists expects annual inflation at 0.4% compared with 0.1% in the first quarter, which is below the central bank's target range of 1% to 3%.

        Furthermore, market focus is on Ms. Yellen's testimony to assess the Fed's proclivity toward rate increases, said ANZ in a note.

        The Kiwi was at US$0.6696 in late Wellington trading, compared with US$0.6680 late Tuesday. The New Zealand dollar was at 0.8977 Australian dollars versus A$0.8992 previously.

        Write to Lucy Craymer at lucy.craymer@wsj.com, @lucy_craymer

        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 15, 2015 01:52 ET (05:52 GMT)

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