BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Corrects introductory paragraph
The New Zealand dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, after the New Zealand's central bank signaled further delay in interest rate cuts due to sticky inflation.
The New Zealand's central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged for the seventh straight meeting. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, led by Governor Adrian Orr, decided to hold the Official Cash Rate at 5.50 percent.
The MPC observed that inflation is likely to return to within the 1 to 3 percent target range by the end of 2024.
'The Committee agreed that monetary policy needs to remain restrictive to ensure inflation returns to target within a reasonable timeframe,' the bank added.
Also, the Asian stock markets traded higher, as investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they await the release of the minutes of the U.S. Fed's latest monetary policy meeting later in the day for clues about the outlook for interest rates.
While the likelihood of rates being lower by September remains high, the chances have fallen to 78.3 percent from close to 90 percent last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
The NZ dollar traded lower against other major currencies on Tuesday.
In the Asian trading now, the NZ dollar rose to a 17-year high of 96.11 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 95.21. The kiwi may test resistance near the 97.00 region.
Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi advanced to more than a 2-month high of 0.6152 and more than a 1-month high of 1.0861 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6093 and 1.0941, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.63 against the greenback and 07 against the aussie.
The kiwi advanced to nearly a 2-1/2-month high of 1.7656 against the euro, from Tuesday's closing value of 1.7815. On the upside, 1.74 is seen as the next resistance level for the kiwi.
Looking ahead, U.K. house price data for May is due to be released at 4:30 am ET in the European session.
In the New York session, U.S. MBA mortgage approvals data, U.S. existing home sales data for April and U.S. EIA crude oil data are slated for release.
At 2:00 pm ET, the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting will be published.
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