WSJ:New Zealand Dollar Down Late As Prime Minister's Comments Weigh
Late Change
NZD/USD 0.8162 -0.0034
NZD/AUD 0.7905 -0.0040
NZD/JPY 65.6295 -0.6295
April 2015 Bond 2.915% -3.0 bps
April 2023 Bond 4.125% -1.5 bps
10-Year U.S. Spread +215 bps +1.0 bp
90-Day Bank Bill 2.73% unchanged
WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--The New Zealand dollar was trading lower late Tuesday, as the currency underperformed following comments from the country's Prime Minister John Key that it was "over-valued."
Key, during a visit in Indonesia, said that the New Zealand dollar was overvalued and "we're considering what we can do to resist a rising exchange rate."
RBC Capital currency strategist Sue Trinh said this "jaw boning" put pressure on the exchange rate.
She added there was also some risks around New Zealand first-quarter consumer price index data due to be released Thursday at 10.45 a.m. local time (2245 GMT Wednesday).
"Importantly, consensus is looking for a downside surprise to what the RBNZ is forecasting for 1Q CPI so it kind of makes sense that the Kiwi is underperforming in that environment," she said.
Consumer prices are expected to have risen 0.5% on the quarter and 1.6% on the year, according to the median forecast of 14 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's March Monetary Policy Statement indicated it expects consumer prices to rise 0.7% on the quarter and 1.7% on the year in the first quarter.
New Zealand government bond prices continued to rally as the market sought safe-haven assets while concerns lingered about the European debt crisis ahead of Spanish bond auctions, a local bond trader said.
He added coupons for several New Zealand government bonds were paid on Monday and this contributed to an increase in money in the market and subsequently supported a bid tone.
-By Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; lucy.craymer@dowjones.com