NZ dollar falls as fear stalks world markets

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar fell against the greenback as fear stalked world markets again, with the latest economic data from the United States raising new worries that the world's largest economy is nearly stuck.

New US claims for first-time jobless benefits scaled a nine-month high last week, while Mid-Atlantic factory activity contracted, unexpectedly, in August for the first time in more than a year.

By 8am today, the NZ dollar was buying US70.74c, down from US71.13c at 5pm yesterday.

The US dollar dropped near a 15-year low versus the yen but rose against the euro on the weak US economic data and steep losses in the stock market.

Investors flocked to safe havens such as the US dollar, yen and Swiss franc, with the yen gaining against the greenback as US bond yields fell on the worries about the economy.

"People are still questioning whether to sell the (US) dollar on weak US data or buy it on a general move away from risk," said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.

The NZ dollar fell to 0.5519 euro at 8am from 0.5560 at 5pm, and dropped to 60.36 yen from 61.04.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was slightly down from its local close, buying A79.23c at 8am. The trade weighted index dropped to 66.13 at 8am from 66.57 at 5pm.

ANZ bank said it expected a "feeble" finish by the NZ dollar this week. "Plagued" by electoral uncertainty across the Tasman, the kiwi should look to test support levels closer to US70.30c.

"Weak attempts to move higher yesterday were easily dealt with overnight as a raft of dismal US data crushed US equities. Correlations remain high delivering no option to the NZD but to head south," ANZ said.

- NZPA