The New Zealand dollar fell today after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) left the official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 percent.The NZ dollar fell from about US72.30c to US71.70c in reaction to the decision and was weak for the rest of the session. It
The New Zealand dollar fell today after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) left the official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 percent.
The NZ dollar fell from about US72.30c to US71.70c in reaction to the decision and was weak for the rest of the session. It was US71.66c at 5pm from US71.44c at the same time yesterday.
The New Zealand cash rate decision came after the United States Federal Reserve pledged to hold US rates at record lows at the same time as it sounded a more confident note about the US economy.
Imre Speizer, senior currency strategist at Westpac, said investors looked for subtle changes in the wording of the New Zealand statement.
The RBNZ said it would begin removing policy stimulus "over the coming months", sparking much discussion about how many months away a rate hike might be.
"The speculators were positioned for a more punchy statement. We didn't get it. It was very subtle so the speculators bailed out," said Mr Speizer. Squaring of their positions dampened the NZ dollar market.
The NZ dollar was at 0.5421 euro at 5pm from 0.5413 at the same time yesterday, and at 67.27 yen from 66.51 yen yesterday.
Against the Australian dollar, the NZ dollar was A77.48c at 5pm from A77.55c yesterday. The trade weighted index rose to 66.99 from 66.79 yesterday.
