The New Zealand dollar broke a six-session losing streak on Thursday, stepping up after data showed the economy grew at a rapid pace in the third quarter, bolstering views the nation's central bank was done cutting interest rates. The New Zealand dollar added 0.3 percent to $0.6920 but stayed near a seven-month low of $0.6883 touched this week.
The Kiwi is set for its worst monthly performance since a 3 percent drop in May, pressured by a surge in US Treasury yields and the dollar after Donald Trump's upset US election win last month. It will mark the third straight month of losses for the New Zealand currency, though for the year it is still seen scoring a small gain, after being more than 8 percent higher in early November.
The Kiwi rose 0.2 percent on the yen while it was flat on both the euro and its Australian counterpart. The Australian dollar was up 0.15 percent at $0.7250, from $0.7238 the previous day. The Aussie has erased all of its gains this year to be down 0.5 percent so far, also hurt since Trump's election victory and after data this month showed the economy shrank for the first time since 2011, raising the spectre of a possible recession. New Zealand government bonds were mostly unchanged. Australian government bond futures ticked lower, with the three-year bond contract and the 10-year contract down 1 tick each at 97.90 and 97.13 respectively. Some respite for the Kiwi came from Thursday's data showing gross domestic product rose a faster than expected 1.1 percent, painting a rosy picture of the economy - one of the rich world's top growing nations.