The New Zealand dollar has risen strongly in the past day.
The Kiwi was trading at 66.72 US cents at 7.30am. That was an increase of 1.3 percent from yesterday.
There are several reasons for this.
China released some good economic data yesterday. The manufacturing sector slowed in November but the services sector grew. So China still looks to be on track with its transition from an industrial to a service based economy. That is good news for export nations like New Zealand.
The U.S. dollar eased against most currencies as traders await key American jobs data that is due later this week.
This morning the latest global dairy auction result came out. The 3.6 percent lift in prices gave the New Zealand dollar another nudge up in value.
The Kiwi is up more than one percent against the British pound, at 44.27 pence.
However it is little changed against the Australian dollar, sitting at 91.19 cents.
DAIRY PRICES
The lift in dairy prices was just what Fonterra and its farmers were hoping for.
Whole Milk Powder prices lifted 5.3 percent to US$2,260.
But prices will need to get back closer to US$3,000 for Fonterra to be sure it can maintain its forecast payout to farmers of $4.60 per kilogram of milk solids.
HOUSE PRICES
Quotable Value's latest figures show the average price in Auckland rose to $931,807 in November. That’s a 24 percent increase in twelve months.
QV says "home values in Auckland are still increasing but at a slower rate than last month and it appears new rules to curb investors along with restrictions on the capital flow out of china have led to an easing in the market."
The average price across New Zealand is $555,729. That's a 15 percent increase on a year ago.
VW SALES SLIDE
Volkswagen's woes continue. Its US sales fell 25 per cent last month after it suspended sales of diesel vehicles following revelations of the emissions cheating scandal.
VW sales fell to 23,882 units in the month, down nearly 8000 from a year earlier.
ADELE
With each passing day Adele's "25" sets new records.
Nielsen Music says the album has now sold over 4 million copies in the United States.
It has sold 650,000 copies in the US since Friday. That is on top of the 3.36 million copies that were sold in its first week of release.
Billboard reports that "25" is the first album to sell over four million copies in a calendar year in the US since...Adele's "21". That album sold 4.41 million copies in 2012.
