Stimulus hopes push kiwi up, but shares fall

The New Zealand share market did not benefit from the boost, partly due to the stronger kiwi dollar weighing down some exporters and electricity companies slipping.

The kiwi dollar was trading at 66.08 US cents up from a low of 65.53 overnight and from 65.83 yesterday, as traders swapped the safe-haven US currency for higher risk assets.

The trade-weighted index was at 70.86 at 5pm, from 70.80 yesterday. The kiwi traded at at 93.34 Australian cents from 93.41, 69.60 yen from 69.47 yen, 55.78 euro cents from 55.90 cents, 50.91 British pence from 50.83 pence, and 4.3983 Chinese yuan from 4.3971 yuan.

The three key US equity indices each rose about half a percent on Tuesday night after President Trump indicated he was willing to approve Democratic lawmakers’ proposal for fiscal stimulus.