The New Zealand dollar stabilized on Thursday after the release of data and the policy decisions of the central bank.

Earlier government data showed retail sales rose 0.5% in the first quarter, while analysts expected a 0.3% drop.

Core sales rose 0.4%, while analysts expected no change.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand recently decided to hold interest rates unchanged at 5.5%.

On trading, NZD/USD stabilized at 0.6098 as of 21:04 GMT.

Sterling

The pound fell 0.2% against the US dollar as of 21:05 GMT to 1.2692.

The UK manufacturing PMI rallied to 51.3 from 49.5 in the previous reading.

On the other hand, the services PMI slid to 52.9 from 54.7 in the previous reading.

The US Dollar

The dollar index rose 0.1% as of 20:43 GMT to 105.07, with a session-high at 105.1, and a low at 104.6.

Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell to 215 thousand last week from 223 thousand.

The US manufacturing PMI rose to 50.9 in May from 50.

The services PMI jumped to 54.8 this month, while analysts expected a drop to 51.2.