Sharechat Logo

NZ dollar declines as greenback touches fresh highs following Yellen speech

Thursday 3rd December 2015

Text too small?

The New Zealand dollar declined as the greenback touched fresh highs after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen cemented expectations the central bank is gearing up to lift its target interest rate for the first time since 2009 at its meeting this month​.

The kiwi slipped to 66.39 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 66.63 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 72.16 from 72.29 yesterday.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, touched 100.510, its highest level since April 2003, after Yellen, in a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, kept alive the prospect of rate hikes at the Fed's Dec. 15-16 meeting. Traders are now awaiting the closely watched US non-farm payrolls report tomorrow, after a stronger than expected ADP Research Institute employment report yesterday.

Yellen "has made it clear the Fed is keen get started on policy normalisation, even if the pace will be very slow," Bank of New Zealand senior market strategist Kymberly Martin said in a note. "She worries that to delay would lead to abrupt tightening that could inadvertently push the economy into recession. The market is back to pricing almost a 75 percent chance of a hike this month.​"

Traders will be looking for further confirmation of Yellen's view when she testifies to US lawmakers today.

In New Zealand today, Auckland real estate agency Barfoot & Thompson is due to release its latest monthly house price data and Statistics New Zealand publishes third-quarter building work data.

The New Zealand dollar fell to 90.77 Australian cents from 91.05 cents yesterday, ahead of Australia's October trade data today.

The local currency slipped to 62.53 euro cents from 62.75 cents yesterday as traders await the outcome of today's European Central Bank meeting where further stimulus is expected to be announced.

The kiwi advanced to 44.41 British pence from 44.22 pence yesterday, declined to 81.91 yen from 81.95 yen, and fell to 4.2481 yuan from 4.2625 yuan.

 

 

 

 

BusinessDesk.co.nz



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update
FPH initiates voluntary limited recall
March 28th Morning Report
KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt.
SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner
NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results
March 27th Morning Report