New Zealand's export mix is dominated by soft commodities less leveraged to manufacturing, leaving the kiwi lagging somewhat. The currency drifted off to $0.7082 and away from Monday's top of $0.7130. The only domestic data out on Thursday was for Australian sales of new vehicles which showed an upbeat end to last year with record sales in December. In bond markets, yields slipped a touch with inflation still muted in both the Antipodean countries and interest rates very much on hold.
The three-year Australian government bond future edged 1 tick higher to 97.835, while the 10-year contract added 2 ticks to 97.3060. Yields on New Zealand government bonds were down as much as 3 basis points at the long end of the curve. The ISM survey of US manufacturing was especially strong with new orders at the highest level since 2004. Industry readings from Japan and Hong Kong out on Thursday were both the strongest since early 2014.
Barclays measure of manufacturing confidence globally climbed to its highest since early 2011, led by strength in the euro zone and the United States.