The New Zealand Dollar saw a strong surge after an upbeat jobs report showed that unemployment unexpectedly dropped while the participation rate edged higher. The jobless or unemployment rate, at 4.6%, is a 9-year low, while the participation rate edged up to 71.1%, beating analysts’ expectations. The Kiwi Dollar has been under some pressure in the past several weeks on concerns that the new government would be tamping down migration and foreign investment. That, says one currency strategist in Hong Kong, has meant that the Kiwi is vulnerable in the short term.
As reported at 11:56 am (BST) in London, the NZD/USD was trading at $0.6922, a gain of 0.48%; earlier, the pair had hit a peak of $0.69307 while the low stands at $0.68810 for the session. The EUR/NZD is down 0.58% and trading at N$1.6819.
Fed Decision Looms
In the US, market players are awaiting a decision by the Federal Reserve Bank which is due out later today. Analysts don’t believe that the Fed will be modifying monetary policy this month, but they will keenly wait for the press conference which follows to gauge the timing of the next rate hike, which is presumed to be next month. Markets have already priced in a 25 basis point increase for December. Later today, the ADP jobs report will be released, and forecasters are calling for 200 new private sector jobs to be reported for October.