New Zealand’s dollar headed for its biggest weekly decline in six weeks as speculation that Greece’s debt crisis will worsen damped demand for higher-yielding assets.
Australia’s currency was 0.9 percent from a three-week low against the greenback before a report that economists said will show U.S. consumer confidence fell in June as the world’s largest economy slows. A default by Greece is “almost certain” and could help drive theU.S. economy into recession, according to former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.
“Greece’s debt issue and a slowdown in the U.S. economy remain the main focus of the markets,” said Kengo Suzuki, manager of the foreign bond department in Tokyo at Mizuho Securities Co., a unit of Japan’s third-largest bank. “Reduced risk-appetite is weighing on the Aussie and kiwi.”
New Zealand’s dollar traded at 80.63 U.S. cents as of 11:49 a.m. in Sydney from 80.48 cents in New York yesterday, having dropped 1.8 percent this week. The so-called kiwi was at 65.05 yen from 64.89 yen. Australia’s dollar bought $1.0557 from $1.0558 after sliding to $1.0478 yesterday, the lowest level since May 25. The currency was at 85.13 yen from 85.12 yen.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet today in Berlin to discuss a rescue package for Greece. EU finance ministers agreed on June 14 to convene again on June 19 after they failed to reconcile a German-led push for bondholders to shoulder part of the cost of a new plan for Greek aid.
‘Extremely Unlikely’
“The problem you have is that it’s extremely unlikely the political system will work” in a way that solves Greece’s crisis, Greenspan, said in an interview yesterday with Charlie Rose in New York. “The chances of Greece not defaulting are very small.”
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated his opposition to any Greek bailout that forces private investors to participate, according to a transcript published by the ECB of an interview with The Times newspaper conducted June 13.
“The twin concern of markets at present was again at the fore -- Greece and the poor run of U.S. data,” Khoon Goh, head of market economics and strategy at ANZ National Bank Ltd. in Wellington, wrote in a note to clients. “Safe-haven currencies the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc were the top performers in the currency market, with the New Zealand dollar one of the worst-performing currencies.”
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of U.S. consumer sentiment slipped to 74 this month from 74.3 in May, according to economists surveyed before today’s report.
The two South Pacific currencies snapped a two-day decline as Asian shares halted losses.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares was little changed after sliding 2.3 percent yesterday. www.bloomberg.com
No comments:
Post a Comment