“Australia’s dollar held a rebound from a three-week low against its New Zealand counterpart as traders pared bets for interest-rate cuts after retail sales in the larger nation climbed by the most in more than three years.
The so-called Aussie gained for a second day against New Zealand’s kiwi dollar after government data showed that retail sales jumped 1.3 percent in February and building approvals rebounded. Both South Pacific currencies fell against the dollar and surged against the yen after the Bank of Japan (8301) expanded monetary stimulus.
“The retail sales number was extremely strong,” said Alvin Pontoh, an Asia-Pacific strategist at TD Securities Inc. inSingapore. “It justifies the move higher in the Aussie. The Reserve Bank of Australia said this week that there are signs the economy is responding to previous easing of monetary policy and we’re clearly seeing that evidence today.”
The Australian dollar rose 0.1 percent to NZ$1.2435 at 5:42 p.m. in Sydney from yesterday, when it also added 0.1 percent. The pair touched NZ$1.2396 on April 2, the lowest since March 8. The Aussie fell 0.3 percent to $1.0431, and New Zealand’s currency lost 0.3 percent to 83.89 U.S. cents.
Australia’s dollar jumped 2.1 percent to 99.44 yen and New Zealand’s surged 2.1 percent to 79.96 yen.
The advance in Australia’s retail sales beat the 0.3 percent advance predicted by the the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists and was the biggest back-to- back gain in almost four years.
Separate reports showed building approvals rebounded 3.1 percent in February from a revised 2.0 percent drop in January, and a measure of the services industry advanced to the highest level in 14 months….”
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