NZ dollar falls vs. greenback, yen as risk appetite ebbs, commodities fall

Friday 22nd February 2013

The New Zealand dollar declined against the greenback and the yen as equities markets and commodities fell and figures showed the US economy is still growing only weakly.

The kiwi dollar fell to 83.17 US cents from 83.42 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The local currency sank to 77.36 yen from 77.97 yen.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Commodity Index fell 1.1 percent yesterday while Solid Energy's weak finances underlined the damage caused by falling prices of coal. Stocks declined in Asia yesterday and continued into Europe, where manufacturing and services were weak, and the US, where jobless claims rose, consumer prices flatlined and the Philadelphia Fed's business index dropped.

"That makes a combination of things that are risk-off" for the kiwi, said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales at ASB Institutional.

The trade-weighted index fell to 76.09 from 76.22.

The kiwi gained to 63.12 euro cents from 62.90 cents as weak euro-zone data saw the euro broadly weaker against its trading peers. The local currency fell to 54.55 British pence from 54.83 pence. The Australian dollar slipped to 81.33 Australian cents from 81.49 cents.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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