The New Zealand dollar underperformed in early Asian deals on Friday as the nation's trade balance logged a smaller than expected surplus in April.
New Zealand posted a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$157 million in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday, worth 4.0 percent of exports.
The headline figure missed forecasts for a surplus of NZ$480 million following the upwardly revised surplus of NZ$732 million in March (originally NZ$718 million).
Exports were up a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent on year to NZ$3.95 billion, also missing expectations for NZ$4.06 billion after coming in at a downwardly revised NZ$4.41 billion in the previous month (originally NZ$4.42 billion).
Imports jumped a seasonally adjusted 7.4 percent on year to NZ$3.80 billion versus forecasts for NZ$3.60 billion after showing a downwardly revised NZ$3.68 billion a month earlier (originally NZ$3.70 billion).
The New Zealand dollar was a clear underperformer yesterday in early hours as market players fled from high-yielding currencies amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve would scale back its stimulus program shortly.
Besides, an unexpected decline in China's manufacturing activity in May also prompted traders to move away from risky-bets in early deals on Thursday.
However, the kiwi staged a rebound on Thursday's North American session as the market judged the initial response to Bernanke's comments on scaling back stimulus was an over-reaction.
The kiwi bull run reversed its course following the smaller-than-expected April trade figures, sending the NZD/USD pair to park below the 0.81 level, with the pair falling to a session's low of 0.8072.
The New Zealand currency also lost ground against the euro after a relatively dismal trade data, taking the domestic dollar down to near 1.60 per euro from an overnight peak of 1.5843.
The kiwi dollar fell to 82.60 against the yen immediately following the data, however, it managed to hold the 83.0 level after a short-while, setting fairly above its overnight close of 82.91.
The New Zealand dollar dropped slightly to 1.1988 against the Australian dollar following the trade report. However, an immediate counter-reaction helped the local currency hovering at its overnight closing quote of 1.1980.
Traders wait for a speech by the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at Nikkei conference later in the session.
Germany's final figures of the first quarter GDP, Gfk consumer confidence for June and the German IFO business climate survey results for May will be the key macroeconomic drivers in the European session.
The U.S. durable goods orders data for April is expected to garner market attention in the North American session.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com