Kiwi jumps after RBNZ holds rates

The New Zealand dollar was the best performing currency in Thursday’s Asian trading session. NZDUSD rose to a high of $0.7142, the highest since June 2015 after the RBNZ rate decision from around $0.7020 before the announcement.

The kiwi was boosted after the central bank refrained from cutting rates. However, the RBNZ did leave the door open to further easing.

The US dollar remained weak and gold prices were up amid diminished expectations of a Fed rate hike at the FOMC policy meeting next week.

The dollar index inched 0.1 percent lower to 93.511, which was close to a five-week low of 94.425 reached on Wednesday.

The yen strengthened for a third consecutive session. USDJPY fell as much as 0.4 per cent to 106.50. On Monday the pair hit a one-month low of 106.35.

EURUSD rose to $1.1414, a new one-month high. Helping support the euro are falling German Bund yields, which are at record lows as the European Central Bank began buying corporate debt for its stimulus program yesterday. Also Brexit concerns led investors to move to the safety of German bonds.

GBPUSD traded at $1.4490, slipping from yesterday’s $1.46. The pound remains vulnerable ahead of the June 23 referendum vote on whether the UK will remain or leave the EU.

In commodities Brent crude gained 0.5 per cent at $52.77 a barrel while US oil was up 0.7 per cent today at $51.60 a barrel.

Gold was down 0.1 per cent at $1262.01 an ounce.

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