23 June 2009

Source: NZ Herald

Kiwi drops against Greenback NZ dollar retreats NZ Dollar over US64c Aussie dollar best yardstick NZ dollar holds steady Kiwi gains on major currencies NZ dollar consolidates Kiwi gains on Greenback Mixed day for NZ dollar Choppy night for NZ dollar

The New Zealand dollar dropped overnight against the United States dollar and other major currencies, as market momentum swung against the risk of investing in higher-yielding currencies.

The kiwi was trading around its overnight lows at US63.10c at 8am today, from US63.95c at 5pm yesterday.

The ANZ bank said in a morning briefing that there was no chance of a move higher for the kiwi yesterday as the greenback gained ground, and official comments helped downside momentum gather pace.

Global stock markets retreated sharply overnight on downbeat comments from the World Bank.

The World Bank said prospects for the global economy remain "unusually uncertain," and it cut its 2009 growth forecasts for most economies.

The US and Japanese currencies have tended to rise on extreme risk aversion in recent months.

BNZ also reported yesterday that maturing NZ dollar denominated bonds issues in Japan and Europe could put potential downward pressure on the currency in coming weeks.

On its trade weighted index, the NZ dollar eased to 60.13 at 8am from 60.54 at 5pm.

Against the euro the NZ dollar was at 0.4550 from 0.4597 euro, and against the Japanese currency it was at 60.55 yen from 61.45 yen.

But the kiwi firmed against the Australian dollar, to A80.07c from A79.75c.