NZ Dollar Rises After RBNZ Governor Breman Comments

(RTTNews) - The New Zealand dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, following hawkish comments by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Anna Breman.

RBNZ Breman stated on Thursday that if the Middle East issue is resolved quickly, the domestic economy may rise more strongly this year. She added that some impetus was still being provided by the earlier rate reductions.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, declared on Wednesday that the United States had violated the conditions of the ceasefire agreement. His comments followed Israel's extensive campaign throughout Lebanon, which resulted in the deaths of over 250 people.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, activities against Hezbollah in Lebanon are not covered by the truce between the US and Iran.

At its April policy meeting on Wednesday, New Zealand's central bank made the largely anticipated decision to maintain the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.25%.

During the press conference, RBNZ Breman stated that rising oil prices are lowering consumer purchasing power and business profit margins, prompting a cautious "wait and see" approach.

In the Asian trading today, the NZ dollar rose to near 2-week highs of 92.66 against the yen and 1.9987 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 92.41 and 2.0018, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 93.00 against the yen and 1.96 against the euro.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi advanced to a 3-day high of 1.2060 from Wednesday's closing value of 1.2085. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around the 1.19 region.

The kiwi edged up to 0.5838 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.5825. On the upside, 0.60 is seen as the next resistance level for the kiwi.

Looking ahead, U.S. core PCE price index for February, U.S. GDP Growth Rate for the fourth quarter, personal income and spending for February. U.S. weekly jobless claims data, wholesale inventories for February and U.S. WASDE report are slated for release in the New York session.