New Zealand Dollar Spikes Lower on Soft Trade Data

Talking Points:-

• New Zealand’s Trade Balance comes in at -692M for July vs. -475M Expected, 242M Prior
• Exports Fall to 3.70B From 4.20B in June, Imports Rises to 4.40B From 3.95B in Prior Month
• The New Zealand Dollar Trades Lower Against Global Majors After Trade Data Release

The Kiwi Dollar spiked lower after the island nation’s statistics department released its official trade data report for the month of July. The official trade balance came in at -692M, the lowest since August 2013. It also printed lower than the expected -475M and last month’s positive balance of 242M. Data reflected that exports during the month fell to 3.70B from 4.20B in June, also lower than the expected 3.98B. Imports rose to 4.40B from 3.95B in the prior month, coming in lower than the expected 4.48B.

The New Zealand Dollar likely fell because the trade data further delayed expectations for any rate increases from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand after the central bank signaled a rate hike pause in July. For the week ahead, absence of major news releases from the country means data from the United States is likely to drive the NZDUSD currency pair, says Currency Strategist Ilya Spivak in his weekly forecast for the New Zealand Dollar.

NZDUSD [15 mins – 08/25/2014] Chart created using FXCM Marketscope.