It was a mostly uneventful week for the Kiwi, but the bulls were able to manage solid gains against most of the majors.
There doesn’t seem to be direct catalysts for the gains, so it’s likely global risk-on sentiment was the driver, as well as a weak U.S. dollar, all driven by the continued hopes of a recovery from the global pandemic and more stimulus coming in the U.S.
New Zealand Headlines and Economic data
Tuesday:
New Zealand visitor arrivals up by 15.4% in December 2020
“In the December 2020 year compared with the December 2019 year, the number of overseas visitor arrivals was 996,400, down by 2.89 million”
Global dairy prices rise by +3.0% since the Feb 2 auction
The Kiwi broadly fell on the session without an apparent direct catalyst. It’s arguable that the rising bond yields and inflation fears sparked some movement away from risk assets on Tuesday.
Friday:
New Zealand’s producer input prices remain unchanged in Q4 2020
The Treasury’s NZ Activity Index (NZAC): +0.8% m/m in January 2021
Key points to note from the release are:
“Activity in January is around 0.8% up on same month last year.
Electronic card spending declined compared to January 2020.
Heavy traffic declined but light traffic rose compared to January 2020.
PMI is at its highest since August 2020.”
