WSJ:NZ Dollar Lower Late; Greenback Broadly Higher On Soaring Italian Yields
Late Change
NZD/USD 0.7662 -0.0089
NZD/AUD 0.7595 -0.0004
NZD/JPY 59.0455 -0.7375
April 2013 Bond 2.48% -4.0 bps
May 2021 Bond 3.88% -13.0 bps
10-Year U.S. Spread +187 bps -10 bps
90-Day Bank Bill 2.68% -3.0 bps
WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--The New Zealand dollar was trading lower late Wednesday, as euro-zone debt problems continued to plague the market, sending the greenback broadly higher.
Worsening European bond market conditions weighed on investor sentiment and the single currency. Italy--the euro zone's third-largest economy--saw yields on its benchmark 10-year bonds surge anew above 7%, while yields on bonds issued by triple-A-rated countries such as the Netherlands and Austria even fell.
RBS currency strategist Greg Gibbs noted that deleveraging in the banking sector is also pushing up the effective value of the U.S. dollar.
"I guess when that happens you see currencies that are high yielding come under pressure," Gibbs said. "The Kiwi isn't the name of the game it's just part of the roadkill out there."
Euro-zone debt issues are expected to remain a drag on the local dollar. However, the third-quarter domestic producer price index due Thursday may provide some short-term cues.
New Zealand government bonds rallied on a number of factors, said a local bond trader. Along with favorable offshore moves, domestic investors were reinvesting funds after the November 2011 bond had matured, the trader said.
-By Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; lucy.craymer@dowjones.com