The New Zealand dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday, after data showed that China's inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's inflation rose to 1.5 percent in May, in line with expectations, from 1.2 percent in April. This was the fastest since January, when prices climbed 2.5 percent. Month-on-month, consumer prices slid 0.1 percent, offsetting April's 0.1 percent rise.
Another report from NBS showed that producer price inflation slowed notably to 5.5 percent in May from 6.4 percent in April.
On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.3 percent, following a 0.4 percent decline in April. This was the second consecutive drop in prices.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets traded mostly higher in choppy trade with investors largely shrugging off political uncertainty in the U.K.
An exit poll indicated that British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party might have lost its parliamentary majority. The British pound weakened in volatile trade on the likelihood of a hung parliament in the U.K.
Thursday, the NZ dollar had risen 0.23 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.65 percent against the yen, and 0.69 percent against the euro. Meanwhile, the NZ dollar held steady against the Australian dollar.
In the Asian trading, the NZ dollar rose to nearly a 3-month high of 79.63 against the yen and a 1-1/2-month high of 1.5499 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 79.36 and 1.5533, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 81.00 against the yen and 1.51 against the euro.
Against the U.S. dollar, the kiwi advanced to 0.7219 from an early low of 0.7191. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around the 0.73 region.
The kiwi edged up to 1.0440 against the Australian dollar from yesterday's closing value of 1.0457. This may be compared to an early 2-day high of 1.0437. On the upside, 1.03 is seen as the next resistance level for the kiwi.
Looking ahead, U.K. industrial production, construction output and trade balance-all for April-are due to be released at 4:30 am ET.
In the New York session, Canada unemployment rate for May and U.S. wholesale inventories data for April and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are slated for release.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Forex News
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.