NZ dollar gets a lift from improving risk appetite on possible North Korea-US talks

Monday 9th April 2018

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback as risk appetite got a lift from reports North Korea told the US that Kim Jong Un is prepared to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

The kiwi traded at 72.93 US cents as at 5pm in Wellington versus 72.68 US cents as at 8am and from 72.62 cents in New York. The trade-weighted index rose to 75.04 from 74.75.

"The U.S. has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a Trump administration official said on Sunday, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The assurances from North Korea clear the way for a summit meeting between the North Korean leader and US President Donald Trump. While markets remained jittery about a possible global trade war after both China and the US continued to trade threats they are now looking for action.

"The market now wants China and the US to get a bit closer to meeting around the table. The market will probably respond quite well to that," said Martin Rudings, a senior dealer at OMF.

Investors will be keeping an eye out for tomorrow's quarterly survey of business opinion for a gauge on whether confidence is improving after it fell sharply post the September election.

The kiwi dollar rose to 78.07 yen versus 77.64 yen late Friday in New York, also benefiting from improving risk appetite. It traded at 59.42 euro cents from 59.11 late Friday.

The kiwi traded at 94.84 Australian cents from 94.56 cents in the US on Friday and rose to 4.5939 yuan from 4.5783. The New Zealand dollar traded at 51.74 British pence from 51.52 pence.

New Zealand's two-year swap rate rose 3 basis points to 2.24 percent and 10-year swap rate lifted 3 basis point to 3.13 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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