The U.S. dollar trended higher on Thursday, ahead of economic data, while the New Zealand dollar saw a sharp move down thanks to its dovish central bank.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.14% was last up 0.2% at 95.207, ahead of weekly jobless claims and producer price data at 8.30 a.m. Eastern.
The New Zealand dollar NZDUSD, -1.3784% was sharply lower versus its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand took a more dovish stance on its policy outlook and left interest rates unchanged.
“The RBNZ left the cash rate unchanged at 1.75% as was universally expected, but it revised lower its forecasts for the cash rate. The first hike is now forecast in Q3 2020 – a year later than previously forecast,” wrote Adam cole, chief currency stratgeist at RBC. “At the press conference, Governor Orr repeated the recent line that the next move in rates could be either up or down.”
That said Orr spoke positively about the moderating level of the New Zealand-U.S. exchange rate, saying it was now closer to fair value.
The kiwi last bought $0.6650, down from $0.6747 late Wednesday in New York, marking its lowest level in 29 months, or since March 2016, according to FactSet.
Russia’s ruble USDRUB, +0.6129% continued sliding against the buck following Wednesday’s 3.3% drop on the back of further U.S. sanctions. Local Russian news publishes a draft bill for fresh sanctions over Russia’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including possibly prohibiting U.S. entities from purchasing Russian government debt.
Don’t miss: Russian ruble drops to 21-month low as further sanctions spell trouble
The dollar last bought 65.984 ruble, up from 65.602 late Wednesday in New York.
Elsewhere, the Brexit-battered British pound GBPUSD, +0.0699% found its bearings a bit on Thursday, strengthening to $1.2890 against the dollar from $1.2882 before. Sterling had fallen to a one-year low on Wednesday as worries over a so-called ‘hard Brexit’, in which the U.K. would leave the European Union without a plan outlining their future relations.
Also read: Pound skids to 10-month low against euro and there’s more pain to come
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