Investing.com – The kiwi fell in Asia on Wednesday despite a wider than expected budget surplus with the market turning its attention to a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.05% to 93.47.
New Zealand reported its federal budget update with a surplus balance of NZ$1.5 billion, wider than expected.
NZD/USD traded at 0.7233, down 0.62%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7893, down 0.24%. USD/JPY fell 0.05% to 109.50.
Overnight, the dollar traded higher against a basket of global currencies on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to speeches by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve chair
Janet Yellen due later this week.
The greenback rebounded from session lows, shrugging off its poor start to the week, as investors shifted focus from recent U.S.-North Korea tensions to monetary policy ahead of speeches by ECB president Mario Draghi and Fed chair Janet Yellen due Friday at Jackson Hole.
Draghi is expected, however, to offer little insight into the ECB’s thinking on monetary policy to avert any risk of a surge in euro in the wake of the central bank’s concerns over the sharp rise in the single currency.
The ECB’s July policy meeting revealed officials warned that the recent surge in the euro could hamper the central bank’s efforts to get inflation closer to its target of below, but close to, 2%.
Ahead of the symposium of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, the dollar pared losses against both the yen and the Swiss franc.
Data from the showed eurozone economic sentiment for August fell more-than-expected to 29.3 from 35.6 in the prior month.