“New Zealand’s dollar weakened the most in two months as the central bank said it’s ready to intervene in the market, a week after the Group of 20 nations vowed to refrain from currency wars. European stocks and U.S. equity-index futures were little changed.
The so-called kiwi depreciated 1.2 percent to 83.68 U.S. cents at 7:25 a.m. in New York. The pound slid 0.9 percent to $1.5295 after the Bank of England said three of nine policy makers voted to expand asset purchases at their meeting this month. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost less than 0.1 percent. Soybeans climbed for a third day and European Carbon permits rebounded after falling 20 percent yesterday.
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said today in Auckland that he’s “prepared to intervene to influence the kiwi” and that the currency isn’t a one-way bet. The Commerce Department may say U.S. housing starts cooled in January from a four-year high, while the European Commission’s index of consumer confidence probably rose, according to Bloomberg surveys of economists. The Federal Reserve releases minutes of its January meeting.
“It’s interesting that the RBNZ have upped the rhetoric around the potential for intervention,” said Geoff Kendrick, head of European currency strategy at Nomura International Plc in London. “This is the first time Wheeler has laid his cards on the table and talked the currency down.”
Kiwi Rally
The so-called kiwi dollar surged 45 percent against the dollar since the end of 2008, the biggest advance after its Australian counterpart among more than 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The kiwi lost as much as 1.3 percent today, the most since Dec. 21. New Zealand isn’t a member of the G-20….”
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
