Kiwi falls amid tensions over Trump, terror

The New Zealand dollar was set to end the week 0.4 per cent lower against the greenback amid growing concerns US President Donald Trump won’t be able to push through his probusiness agenda, and in the wake of the attack in Barcelona.

The kiwi was at US72.95c at 5pm yesterday, from US72.86c at 8am and US73.28c on Thursday.

It traded at US73.18c last Friday in New York.

The trade- weighted index declined to 76.93 from 77.13 on Thursday.

“Generally, it’s risk off. There are a couple of underlying currents. There’s Trump uncertainty and the Barcelona story,” said CMC Markets trader Sheldon Slabbert.

“The attack in Barcelona, where at least 13 people died, as well as political uncertainties in the US, saw investors seek out safe havens.”

The kiwi dropped to ¥ 79.73 from ¥ 80.51, as the yen is traditionally viewed as one of those safe currencies.

In the US, rumours the director of the US National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, was set to resign after Trump’s remarks on the violence in Charlottesville caused jitters.

White House aides later told the Wall Street Journal Cohn hadn’t quit and didn’t plan to do so. Slabbert also said markets were “ripe for a bit of a retracement, a pause”, as equities and investor sentiment had pushed them quite high so far this year.

The kiwi traded at 62.15c from € 62.20c on Thursday and at 56.59 British pence from 56.78p.

It was at 4.8705 Chinese yuan from 4.8861 yuan.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi traded at A92.35c from A92.39c.

New Zealand’s t wo- year swap rate was down 1 basis point at 2.16 per cent while 10- year swaps fell 2 basis points to 3.12 per cent.