New Zealand Producer Price Index outputs rise 0.9% in Q1, inputs grow 0.7%
New Zealand's Producer Price Index (PPI) inputs and outputs rose in the first quarter, with business input prices rising 0.7% (previous 0.9%), and business output prices rising 0.9% (previous 0.7%).
According to Stats NZ, the largest contributor to output prices were electricity and gas, which rose 8.8% QoQ, with energies also making up the largest contributor to input prices, which climbed 11.6%. Insurance costs also contributed heavily to PPI input cost increases, rising 5.0% QoQ.
Market reaction
As markets head into the Pacific Friday market session, NZD/USD is trading on the high side. The pair is testing above 0.6120 after setting a Thursday peak above 0.6145.
About New Zealand's Produce Price Index - Output
The Producer Price Index Out released by the Statistics New Zealand is a measurement of the price changes of goods produced by the producers in New Zealand. Generally speaking, a price hike generates higher retail prices for consumers. Thus, a high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the NZD, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).
Author
Joshua Gibson
FXStreet
Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.
