NZ dollar jumps almost one US cent following Fed hike
The New Zealand dollar jumped one cent over the day, following the US Federal Reserve announcing an expected 25 basis point rate hike.
Thursday, February 2nd 2023, 6:10PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 61.2 points, or 0.5%, to 12,152.16. Across the main board, 56 stocks fell and 78 rose. Turnover was $158.4 million.
Devon Funds' head of retail, Greg Smith, said both NZ’s currency and the domestic market had responded well to the Fed’s announcement, with the market finishing the day up 0.5% and the kiwi dollar up by almost a cent.
The NZ dollar was at 65.27 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, from 64.33 US cents at the same time yesterday.
Smith said the Fed’s “hawkish words, but dovish actions” had taken some of the wind out of the US dollar which had helped the NZ dollar pick up today.
Will the Fed influence the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) to also slow its rate hiking? Possibly – but possibly not, Smith said.
“They don't tend to operate in silos,” he said. “The RBNZ tends to look at what many central banks and the Fed is doing and there tends to be a degree of coordination implicitly.”
"But there are differences and NZ marches to a slightly different beat at times.”
In NZ many minds were still on the recent extreme weather as ANZ Bank and Westpac NZ extended their North Island flooding support today.
Westpac has created a new $1m fund to help its small business customers who will be able to apply for $2,500 cash grants to help with urgent expenses or repairs.
Chief executive Catherine McGrath said the floods had come at a time when many of the bank’s customers were already dealing with heightened financial pressures.
ANZ Bank said it had widened the support on offer for customers affected by the extreme weather events in the North Island over the past week.
Personal banking director Ben Kelleher said ANZ Bank had simplified its processes when it came to temporary overdrafts for customers with insurance as well as those applying for a KiwiSaver significant hardship withdrawal for amounts up to $5,000.
ANZ Bank was down 0.9% to $27.65, and Westpac NZ fell 0.9% to $25.74.
General insurer Tower announced it had settled its first motor claims related to the Auckland and North Island flooding yesterday, four days after the first storm.
Tower has received over 500 motor claims so far and has now settled 11 of them.
“It’s our job to be there when people need us most and to help alleviate some of the stress involved during weather events, so Kiwis can focus on keeping themselves and their families safe,” Chief claims officer Steve Wilson said.
Tower edged down 0.8% to 66.5 cents by early evening.
Across the rest of the market, Radius Residential Care jumped 8.8% to 31 cents in light trading today. Investment company Barramundi rose 4.2% to 74 cents and SkyCity Entertainment Group pushed up 3.2% to $2.60.
Vital Healthcare Property Trust also had a good day and was up 3% to $2.42 while Fletcher Building edged up 1.7% to $5.34 and traded over 3.5m shares.
Ebos Group made up some of the gains it lost yesterday and was up 1.5% to $42.75.
Green Cross Health fell 5.8% to $1.31 in light trading while index heavyweight Mainfreight was down 2.6% to $70.45.
Scales Corp also edged down 2.4% to $4.10.
| « NZ market jumps up ahead of Fed decision tomorrow | NZ shares edge up as market positivity continues » |
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