NZD Slips Despite NZ$23 Million June Surplus as US-Iran Conflict Fuels Dollar Bid
Updated
Updated · TradingView · Jul 20
NZD Slips Despite NZ$23 Million June Surplus as US-Iran Conflict Fuels Dollar Bid
3 articles · Updated · TradingView · Jul 20
Summary
New Zealand’s dollar traded lower even after June posted a NZ$23 million trade surplus, showing local data failed to offset broader risk aversion.
US dollar strength drove the move as the escalating US-Iran conflict boosted safe-haven demand and lifted oil prices, pressuring the kiwi alongside other major currencies.
Trade figures offered only limited support: exports reached NZ$8.09 billion and imports NZ$8.07 billion, while the annual trade balance stayed in a NZ$3.75 billion deficit.
Fresh US casualties, reports of more Pentagon aircraft in the region and Iranian missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq reinforced expectations of a wider conflict.
For the near term, the NZD looks more tied to Middle East developments and the dollar’s haven appeal than to New Zealand’s own trade fundamentals.