Among Asian currencies, the New Zealand Dollar, commonly called the Kiwi Dollar, was among the biggest movers today. In the past day, the Kiwi has lost nearly 2% of its value relative to the US Dollar, after the country’s Labour party surprisingly pulled out a win in the country’s general election. Analysts say that markets are uncertain of the impact the Labour party will have on the currency, especially given that it has promised to form a coalition party with the New Zealand First party, which has controversial protectionist, anti-immigration views.
As reported at 10:30 am (JST) in Tokyo, the NZD/USD is trading at $0.6998, down 0.38%; the pair had lost nearly 2% soon after the election results were announced.
Dollar Pressured by Fed Head Rumors
In the Eurozone, the Euro edged higher against the US Dollar on Thursday after a decline in Treasury yields. The greenback is also under some pressure on rumors that the President is likely to name Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as the next head of the Federal Reserve Bank. Markets had been hoping that a more hawkish choice would be among the President’s short list. It is believed Powell would continue to have a bias toward the current low interest rate environment.