It was all AUD action early in the week with the Australian Dollar (AUD), New Zealand Dollar (NZD) cross reaching 1.0830 (0.9233) Tuesday post RBA. A surprise hike by the central bank to 3.85% brought back AUD buyers as the AUD rallied. Australian Retail Sales printed mixed results coming in stronger in March than expected but overall data was weak as consumers adjusted to higher interest costs, the report showing the figure grew 0.4% after 0.3% was forecast. While this was the third straight month of rises, a decline of spending on discretionary goods has kept monthly sales down for several months. NZ Unemployment remained at 3.4% with the participation rate a decent 72%, Orr saying borrower defaults remained low and banks showing minimal lending stress, overall capital and liquidity positions were strong. The kiwi kicked into high gear reversing RBA moves into Friday trading downwind to around 0.9390 (1.0650). We aren’t predicting a push higher into the 0.94’s with the NZD looking a tad overbought.
The current interbank midrate is: NZDAUD 0.9387 AUDNZD 1.0650
The interbank range this week has been: NZDAUD 0.9231- 0.9415 AUDNZD 1.0621- 1.0832