By Candice Zachariahs May 4 (Bloomberg) -- The New Zealand dollar fell against all its major counterparts after a government report showed the nation had the biggest net outflow of residents in more than 10 years in March. The so-called kiwi also depreciated for a third day versus the greenback before New Zealand releases employment data for the first quarter tomorrow. Australia’s currency declined for a fifth day against the yen as Asian stocks dropped on concern Chinese measures to tame inflation will damp growth in Australia’s largest trading partner. “New Zealand’s data today hasn’t really inspired positive sentiment toward the kiwi dollar with fairly weak migration numbers,” said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington. “The employment number has been notoriously volatile of late and people are seeing this dip in the kiwi as an excuse to take profit.” New Zealand’s dollar fell to 79.24 U.S. cents as of 4:15 p.m. in Sydney from 79.87 cents yesterday in New York, when it weakened 1 percent. The currency slid 0.8 percent to 64.11 yen, and fell 0.6 percent to NZ$1.3666 per Australian dollar. The so- called Aussie slipped 0.1 percent to $1.0832, and declined 0.2 percent to 87.58 yen. Permanent migrant departures from New Zealand exceeded arrivals by 530 in March, the most since a net 2,400 net emigrants in February 2001, the government said. The exodus adds evidence to the government’s outlook for little to no growth after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake wrecked houses and closed businesses in Christchurch on Feb. 22. N.Z. Jobs New Zealand’s unemployment rate was little changed at 6.7 percent in the first quarter from 6.8 percent in the previous three months, according to a Bloomberg News survey before the Statistics New Zealand report. The rate was 6 percent in the first quarter of last year. Australia’s dollar dropped for a third day against the U.S. currency after China’s central bank said in a report yesterday that taming inflation is its highest priority. Chinese stocks fell on concern more tightening is possible, even after a manufacturing survey showed growth may be moderating in Asia’s biggest economy. “There is also increasing nervousness among investors about what further steps China will take to control inflation,” David Forrester, a currency economist at Barclays Capital in Singapore, wrote in a note to clients. “We are approaching a turning point at which investors no longer think that China’s policymakers are tightening into economic strength and, therefore, no longer buy the Australian dollar dips.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index of shares dropped 1.5 percent, the biggest decline in three weeks. Japan’s financial markets were shut today for a holiday. ‘Latent Demand’ Speculation the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates this year are supporting the Aussie dollar, said Tony Allen, global head of foreign-exchange trading at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney. There’s an 84 percent chance Governor Glenn Stevens will raise the nation’s benchmark rate 25 basis points by December, according to futures. “The RBA is live and the U.S. dollar is still a funding currency,” Allen said. “There’s enough latent demand for Aussie around to keep it supported.” Benchmark rates are 4.75 percent in Australia and 2.5 percent in New Zealand, compared with as low as zero in the U.S. and Japan, attracting investors to the South Pacific nations’ higher-yielding assets. The risk in such trades is that currency market moves will erase profits. --Editor: Rocky Swift, Nicholas Reynolds To contact the reporter on this story: Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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