NZ dollar falls against Aussie after strong Oz jobs data

The kiwi was trading at 93.55 Australian cents at 5pm.

The New Zealand dollar was little changed against most currencies but fell against the Australian dollar and the yen after figures showing stronger than expected jobs creation in March.

The kiwi was trading at 93.55 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 93.66 at 8am and at 75.15 Japanese yen from 75.30. It was at 67.16 US cents from 67.19 and the trade-weighted index was at 72.69 points from 72.71.

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"The market had a bit of a heart flutter when the Australian labour market data came out," says Peter Cavanaugh, the senior client advisor at Bancorp Treasury Services.

The figures showed 25,700 new jobs were created in March, well ahead of expectations of 12,000. All the increase was in full-time jobs with part-time positions falling by 22,600.

However, the participation rate also rose so the unemployment rate ticked up a point to 5 per cent.

"On balance, the data was pretty good," Cavanaugh says. "It reinforces the words of the respective banks. The RBA is going nowhere and the RBNZ is talking everybody into believing that the next move is down" in the official cash rate, he says.

The New Zealand dollar fell as low as 93.47 Australian cents after today's data and has fallen from 97.30 on March 23.

Apart from excitement over the Australian jobs data, the market was consolidating after its sharp moves yesterday on the back of weaker than expected New Zealand inflation numbers. They reinforced expectations of an OCR cut, possibly as early as May.

The New Zealand two-year swap rate rose to 1.6432 per cent from 1.6389 yesterday while the 10-year swap rate sank to 2.2475 per cent from 2.2550.

The New Zealand currency was trading at 51.48 British pence from 51.52, at 59.48 euro cents from 59.45, and at 4.4954 Chinese yuan from 4.4930.