After the House of Representatives passed and gave final approval to the Republican tax bill, Donald Trump was able have his first legislative victory since he entered the White House earlier this year, despite Democrats' opposition to the law, who accused him of widening the gap between rich and poor.
The law was passed by a vote of 224-201, a day after the Senate passed the law by 51-48 votes. The draft law was sent to Trump for his signature and then becomes a formal law. Trump announced that “We are making America great again” and that the law means there will be more and more jobs added.
The US dollar did not react strongly to the news, but rose slightly against the Japanese yen after the Bank of Japan kept its policy unchanged and announced that it is not in a hurry to end its broad monetary stimulus program.
The US GDP is due to be release today and it is expected to rise by 3.3% in the third quarter of 2017 to support the robust growth of the US economy following a 3% growth in the second quarter of the same year.
In New Zealand, the economy grew during the third quarter as expected, with GDP rising by 0.6%, while the previous quarter's reading was revised up to 1%. The third quarter came in at slow pace due to weak activity in the primary sectors, offset by a strong recovery in construction activity and softer growth in the services sector.
