Sterling has rallied against the kiwi today, as investor sentiment for the New Zealand dollar weakened

The pound continued to slide against the kiwi on Friday, closing at 2.3553, as strong Chinese data supported demand for the higher-yielding currency.

• The kiwi has fallen sharply this morning though as speculators reduced their risk activity following a retreat in Asian markets, which dented demand for commodity driven currencies.
  
• The New Zealand dollar also suffered after soft data revealed that the country’s retail sales dipped unexpectedly in July, and from a broadly rebounding US dollar, which was sent higher by investors covering short positions.
  
• The sales data showed a dip of 0.5%, against a predicted rise of 0.5%, which showed that consumers remain cautious about New Zealand’s economic recovery.
  
• New Zealand’s data calendar is relatively light for the rest of the week, leaving the kiwi likely to follow broader market events and direction.