NZ dollar gains vs Aussie dollar after Chinese data misses expectations

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The New Zealand dollar gained against the Australian dollar after Chinese manufacturing data printed weaker than expected, stoking speculation Australia's exports will be harder hit than New Zealand's.

The kiwi rose to 95.24 Australian cents on Friday in New York, the highest level since May, and was trading at 94.89 cents at 8am in Wellington, from 94.73 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Friday. The local currency was at 67.54 US cents from 67.71 cents at the New York close and 67.39 cents in Asian trading on Friday.

China is the largest buyer of New Zealand's agricultural commodities and of Australia's mining exports such as iron ore. A report at the weekend showed activity in China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, adding to concern about a slowdown in Asia's largest economy.

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The official China purchasing manager's index, which surveys 3,000 firms, held at 49.8 in October, missing expectations for a gain to 50. Traders are now awaiting today's release of the private Caixin China PMI, which surveys about 430 firms and is expected to show a gain to 47.7 from 47.2.

"If the big one comes in weak then we could possibly expect the smaller one to come in on the soft side as well," said Stuart Ive, OMF senior dealer, foreign exchange. "The ongoing weakness in Chinese data and growth fears will just add downside pressure to the Australian dollar, whilst the kiwi is not too affected by it, it will be slightly but not as much. The Australian dollar certainly acts as a proxy currency for Chinese data."
Should Chinese data print weak and the Reserve Bank of Australia remain on hold tomorrow, "there is a risk that we could start punching a little bit higher," Ive said.

The New Zealand dollar slipped to 4.2672 yuan from 4.2760 yuan on Friday, weakened to 61.20 euro cents from 61.43 cents, fell to 43.70 British pence from 43.99 pence, and edged lower to 81.35 yen from 81.42 yen. The trade-weighted index was at 73.04 from 73 on Friday.