The Kiwi dollar rallied against the greenback following reports of upbeat visitor data for December. There were no other major economic releases on Monday. Overall, the NZD/USD pair rallied from a low of 0.6211 to a high of 0.6235 in the past 24 hours.
The count of tourist arrivals in New Zealand jumped 5740.90% y-o-y to 359,855 in December. A major portion of visitors were from Australia, at 166,346 in December 2022 (versus 1,280 in December 2021). Furthermore, Statistics New Zealand revealed that the number of visitors from the US and the UK were 37,067 and 35,760, respectively. Despite the surge in visitors, the latest figure stands 68% lower than the pre-COVID-19 count of 528,200 in December 2019. Overall, in 2022, New Zealand recorded visitors of 1,427,595, up 590.10% from the previous year.
In a separate news release, Statistics New Zealand stated that food prices increased 10.30% y-o-y in January following an 11.30% rise in December 2022. The sharp rise in prices was mainly due to an 11% surge in the price of groceries. Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food recorded a growth of 8.30%. Fruit and vegetables posted an increase of 16%. Likewise, meat, poultry, and fish reported a rise of 9.20%, while non-alcoholic beverages grew by 7.10%. On a m-o-m basis, food prices inched up 1.70%.
The BusinessNZ performance of services index increased to 54.5 in January from 52 in December. The reading reported by Business New Zealand signals the quickest rate of growth in the country’s service industry since October 2022. The increase was led by an increase in the sales growth index to 52.10 in January. Also, the employment index grew to 51.90 from 46.90. The fresh orders index eased to 54.50 from 57.70. Furthermore, the index representing the inventories of finished goods increased to 54.30 from 51.60.
Also, the BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index increased to 50.80 in January from 47.80 in December. A reading above 50 indicates expansion and vice versa. The reported reading represents the first rise in manufacturing activity since September 2022. The increase was led by a rebound in manufacturing activity, with the corresponding index reaching 52.10 from 49.70. The fresh orders index improved to 48.80 from 46.10. The reading reflects a decline in new orders for the fifth consecutive month. The employment index grew to 51 from 48.80, reflecting the first rise in job additions after three successive months of job losses.
The upbeat economic data is expected to keep the NZD/USD pair slightly bullish in the short term.
The historical price chart indicates that the NZD/USD pair is rising after testing the support at 0.6200. The next resistance is anticipated only near 0.6310. Additionally, the stochastic indicator is in the bullish region. Therefore, we anticipate the NZD/USD pair to remain in an uptrend in the next few trading sessions.
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