Ella 
NZD/USD traded higher in Asia on Wednesday. Chinese economic data failed to boost NZD/USD. Later in the day, investors will get more clues from U.S. retail sales data. As of press time, NZD/USD was trading at 0.6150, up 0.22% throughout the day.
The latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that the value added of China’s large-scale industries increased at an annual rate of 6.8% in December, higher than expectations and the previous value of 6.6%. China’s total retail sales of consumer goods fell to 7.4% in December from 10.1% in the previous month, which was 8.0% lower than the expected value.
In addition, China’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product annualized at 5.2% and 4.9% in the third quarter, below expectations of 5.3%. China’s third-quarter gross domestic product came in at 1.0% quarter-on-quarter, compared with 1.3% in the previous quarter and in line with expectations of 1.0%.
In the U.S. dollar, the Federal Reserve (Fed) kept interest rates steady for the third consecutive time in December, keeping the benchmark overnight lending rate at a target range of 5.25%-5.5%. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said cooling economic activity and the labor market have given him more confidence that the central bank is not far away from achieving a sustainable PCE inflation level of 2%. Waller also said the Fed is expected to start the process of slowing down quantitative tightening this year.
