NZ dollar hits fresh 3-year high against British pound

  • 01/07/2016
NZ dollar hits fresh 3-year high against British pound

The New Zealand dollar has risen to a fresh three-year high against the British pound.

That was after a warning from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney that Britain's economic outlook has "deteriorated" following the Brexit vote.

The kiwi had risen to 53.86 pence by 7:15am New Zealand time, up almost 2 percent. That is the highest the kiwi has been against the British currency since the middle of May 2013.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in a speech that the uncertainty around the outcome of the Brexit vote had "contributed to a form of economic post-traumatic stress disorder amongst households and businesses, as well as in financial markets."

Mr Carney promised the Bank of England would take whatever action is needed and there is likely to be "some monetary policy easing" in the coming months.

Investors think that means lower interest rates are likely to be on the way.

The pound fell more than one per cent to US$1.32. That compares to US$1.50 a week ago, before the results of the Brexit vote were released.

Mr Carney also promised he will deliver "ruthless truth telling" about the state of the British economy and cautioned that "there are limits to what the Bank of England can do."

The prospect of lower interest rates and more action from the Bank of England pushed stocks higher.

The FTSE100  rose 2.27 percent to 6504 points.

The FTSE 250, which contains more smaller domestic companies, rose 1.68 percent. Lower rates make it cheaper for businesses to borrow money and it makes assets like shares look more attractive to investors because the returns look better.

The Euro Stoxx 600 gained one percent, Germany added 0.71 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 1 percent.

Wall Street also closed higher for a third day in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.33 percent. It has regained around 80 percent of the value it lost in the Brexit selloff.

The tech heavy Nasdaq also closed 1.33 percent higher.

The broader S&P500 rose by 1.36 percent, with all 10 sectors making gains.

On the commodity markets US crude oil fell 3.1 percent to US48.33 a barrel.

Gold is trading down 0.2 percent at US$1324 per ounce.

Britain's government bond yields fell.

The yield on one two-year bond dipped to -0.003 percent, the first time it has been in negative territory.

That puts Britain in the same category as Germany and Japan.

The New Zealand dollar

New Zealand's interest rates look high compared to Europe, Japan or the United States.

That saw the kiwi make further gains against the US dollar, rising 0.25 percent to 71.28 US cents.

The New Zealand dollar is trading at 95.77 Australian cents and was up over half a percent to 64.38 euro cents.

Newshub.