Trade Balance 12-Months (NZD) comes in at -5.236B against -2.979B consensus

New Zealand’s Trade Balance 12-Months was reported at a deficit of -5.236 billion NZD. This figure came in significantly wider than the market consensus expectation of a -2.979 billion NZD deficit. The actual print represents a -75.8% surprise relative to consensus and a widening from the previous period’s -3.746 billion NZD deficit.

Following the release, the New Zealand Dollar saw varied but generally limited movement against major currencies. Fifteen minutes after the data, AUDNZD was down -2.4 pips, EURNZD was down -3.8 pips, and GBPNZD was down -3.4 pips. Conversely, NZDCAD was up +3.0 pips, NZDCHF was up +0.9 pips, NZDJPY was up +1.2 pips, and NZDUSD was up +1.5 pips. These initial moves are generally small when compared to the historical median 1-hour moves for these pairs, which typically range from 3 pips to 10 pips after past Trade Balance releases.