Australian, N.Z. Dollars Fall as Drop in Asian Stocks Saps Demand for Risk
Aussie, Kiwi Fall
Gillianne Tedder/Bloomberg
Australian dollar banknotes in various denominations are arranged for a photograph in Sydney, Australia.
Australian dollar banknotes in various denominations are arranged for a photograph in Sydney, Australia. Photographer: Gillianne Tedder/Bloomberg
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Adam Gilmour, Citigroup Inc.'s Asia-Pacific head of foreign exchange sales and derivatives, talks about the outlook for global currencies. Gilmour speaks from Singapore with John Dawson on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
The Australian and New Zealand dollars declined versus their U.S. counterpart as a drop in Asian stocks discouraged demand for the South Pacific nations’ higher-yielding assets.
The Aussie and kiwi “will be still vulnerable to the downside,” said Lee Wai Tuck, a currency strategist at Forecast Pte in Singapore.
Australia’s dollar fell for the first time in four days, dropping 0.6 percent to $1.0464 at 3 p.m. in New York, from $1.0526 yesterday. New Zealand’s currency slid 1.1 percent to 82.71 U.S. cents, from 83.60 cents.
The U.S. currency rallied versus all of its most-traded counterparts as traders speculated on whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will indicate in an Aug. 26 address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a willingness to provide more stimulus.
The kiwi has fallen 4.2 percent in the past month in the worst performance among the 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. The Aussie has lost 3.4 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1.3 percent, erasing gains of as much as 0.7 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.6 percent after rallying 3.4 percent yesterday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kristine Aquino in Singapore at Kaquino1@bloomberg.net; Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
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