Japanese Yen and New Zealand Dollar Rose, Canadian Dollar Fell

(Continued from Prior Part)

The New Zealand dollar-US dollar pair rose by 0.42% on December 18, 2015. The Oceania currency had been on an uptrend for the day. It had a sharp fall after the FOMC’s (Federal Open Market Committee) monetary policy release. The domestic data release has been on a positive note from New Zealand. The GDP (gross domestic product) and the business outlook came out on a positive note. The currency pair rose to a high of 0.68 before closing the day at 0.67.

ANZ published the business confidence for December on December 18, 2015. The business confidence index came out at 23—compared to 14.6 the previous month. The report suggested that business is in a joyful mood. It’s important to note that 23% of the businesses were optimistic about the economy—the highest percentage since April. All five of the subsectors, including agriculture, were positive. The rise was primarily attributed to the high increase in residential investment intentions and commercial construction intentions. They rose to 32 and 45, respectively. Business confidence was lowest in the agriculture segment. It was 7.5.

The iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan ETF (EPP) rose by 0.53% on December 18, 2015. The iShares MSCI Australia ETF (EWA) is another major ETF in the Oceania segment. It rose by 1.2%. Tracking the upward movement in the New Zealand dollar, the iShares MSCI New Zealand Capped ETF (ENZL) rose by 0.63% after the business confidence came out.

Among the major developed Asian ADRs (American depositary receipts), Canon (CAJ) fell by 0.43% while Kyocera (KYO) and Nomura Holdings (NMR) fell by 0.98% and 2.4%, respectively, on December 18.

Browse this series on Market Realist:

• Part 1 - Japanese Yen Gains against the Dollar after BoJ’s Policy Release
• Part 2 - Canadian Dollar Fell to an 11-Year Low
• Part 3 - Dollar Index and Services PMI Both Fell