NZ Dollar Rises Amid RBNZ Rate Hike Speculation
(RTTNews) - The New Zealand dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday, as traders expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to increase its cash rate in the coming policy meetings.
Analysts at ANZ anticipates the Reserve Bank to increase its Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points at each of the coming monetary policy meetings in February and April.
The recent jobs data of New Zealand also fueled bets for an interest rate hike among the traders.
Meanwhile, most markets in the Asian region are fully or partially closed for Lunar New Year holidays.
In the Asian trading today, the NZ dollar rose to more than a 2-month high of 91.57 against the yen and nearly a 4-week high of 1.7576 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 91.00 and 1.7668, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 92.00 against the yen and 1.73 against the euro.
Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi advanced to a 1-week high of 0.6130 and nearly a 9-month high of 1.0595 from Thursday's closing quotes of 0.6095 and 1.0643, respectively. The kiwi may test resistance around 0.62 against the greenback and 1.04 against the aussie.
Looking ahead, Germany's final consumer price data for January is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.
In the New York session, Canada jobs data for January and U.S. Baker Hughes oil rig count data are slated for release.
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