Kiwi plunges vs greenback after upbeat US economic data

Kiwi plunges vs greenback after upbeat US economic data

2 March 2015, 08:54
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On Monday the New Zealand dollar fell against its U.S. peer, as demand for the latter remained strong after the release of Friday's upbeat U.S. economic growth data.

NZD/USD hit 0.7521 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since February 26; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7524, retreating 0.58%. Cable was likely to find support at 0.7479, the low of February 25 and resistance at 0.7613, the high of February 26.

The greenback remained underpinned after the Commerce Department reported on Friday that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the last three months of 2014, down from an initial estimate of 2.6% but ahead of expectations for a downward revision to 2.1% growth.

In addition, the February reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised up to 95.4 from the preliminary reading of 93.6. While this was down from the previous months final reading of 98.1, it was still the second highest level since January 2007.

The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD edging up 0.10% to 1.0330, says Investing.com.

Separately, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday that company operating profits fell 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise. The third quarter's figure was revised to a 0.4% decline from a previously estimated 0.5% increase.

Another report indicated that Australia's new home sales increased by 1.8% in January, after a 1.9% slide the previous month.

Moreover, the Melbourne Institute said that its inflation gauge was flat in February after a 0.1% uptick in January.

Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to report on U.S. manufacturing activity.

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