Kiwi Dollar on Track for 1st Weekly Rise in 5

The New Zealand dollar was trading around $0.5905 on Friday, clinging to its highest level in two weeks and heading for the first weekly rise in five weeks, amid a further decline in the US dollar index as traders continued to adjust their expectations that the Fed may be done with rate hikes, ahead of nonfarm payrolls figures due later in the day.

In Australia, the central bank is widely expected to raise borrowing costs by a quarter point next week and retain its hawkish bias.

At home, the RBNZ in early October maintained cash rates at 5.5% for the third straight meeting but warned that inflation in New Zealand remained too high even after a total 525bps rate hike from the central bank since October 2021.

The central bank will gather in a final meeting of the year later in the month, with traders having confidence that the board will continue with its plan to bring down annual inflation to a level between 1 to 3%.

The country's inflation in Q3 of 2023 stood at 5.6%.