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NZ dollar briefly under US80c


The New Zealand dollar fell briefly below US80c for the first time in three weeks, as the greenback gained on fears that Greece's ongoing sovereign debt woes would spread to more of the euro zone.

NZPA
Fri, 17 Jun 2011

The New Zealand dollar fell briefly below US80c for the first time in three weeks, as the greenback gained on fears that Greece’s ongoing sovereign debt woes would spread to more of the euro zone.

By 8am today the kiwi had recovered some lost ground to US80.34c, and was up from the US80.17c at 5pm yesterday. The NZ dollar continued to trade in a relatively tight band against the European currency, between 0.5690 euro and 0.5650 and by 8am was at 0.5664.

BNZ strategist Kymberly Martin said the dollar had continued on a downward path overnight as risk aversion remained the dominant global theme.

Along with its commodity-linked peers, the Australian and Canadian dollars, the kiwi fell despite local data yesterday that was relatively upbeat.

Also given the NZ dollar had recently been driven above fair value by momentum factors, it remained vulnerable to an environment of heightened risk aversion. Against that backdrop the kiwi also struggled on the crosses.

After spending most of the night in a band between A76.25c and A75.95c against the aussie, the NZ dollar was at A76.22c at 8am, and edged lower to 64.81 yen. The trade weighted index was 69.74 at 8am from 69.71 at 5pm.

In the broader market, the euro fell to a record low against the Swiss franc and a three-week trough against the United States dollar as political turmoil in Greece and uncertainty over new aid for the heavily indebted country intensified.

More losses could be in store for the euro as long as confusion persisted over how and when policymakers would seal a deal to meet Greece's immediate funding needs and put the country's finances on a sustainable path.

NZPA
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
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NZ dollar briefly under US80c
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