NZ dollar falls 1 US cent as Fed’s upbeat US outlook boosts greenback

BUSINESSDESK: The New Zealand dollar fell more than 1 US cent after the Federal Open Market Committee gave an upbeat view of the US economy following a string of positive US data.

The New Zealand dollar fell to 80.73 US cents at 8am down from 82.09 cents yesterday at 5pm.

The greenback advanced against most major currencies after the Fed’s assessment of the world’s largest economy, where consumer spending is rising and Americans enjoy the best six-month stretch of jobs growth since 2006.

“The kiwi got hammered overnight,” said Stuart Ive, currency strategist at HiFX. “There has been some serious risk off – everything is a little bit lower and it is all US based.”

More evidence of a revival in the US economy is expected this month, with fourth-quarter gross domestic product forecast to have grown 2.5 percent, up from 2 percent three months earlier. For the whole year the US economy may have expanded 2.2 percent, up from 1.7 percent in 2010.

“An initial downside move is on but there will come a point where the effects of a strengthening US economy will bode well for the rest of the world and that will push the kiwi higher,” Ive said.

“We want to see the positive figures out of the US reflected in the rest of the world,” he said.

US Treasuries, typically a safe-haven when growth is weak, declined as America’s economic outlook improved. The yield on the 30-year bond increased 14 basis points to 3.41 percent, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond rose 16 basis points to 2.29 percent.

The yield on New Zealand’s 10-year government bonds rose about 3 basis points to 4.16 percent.

In New Zealand, ANZ job advertisements and the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence are set for release today.

The New Zealand dollar fell to 77.35 Australian cents from 77.79 cents yesterday at 5pm. The kiwi declined to 51.52 British pence from 52.34 pence and was down at 62.02 euro cents from 62.74 cents. It dropped to 67.58 yen from 68.22 yen.

The trade-weighted index decreased to 72.5 from 73.33.