Kiwi gains on US dollar in volatile year

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 2 per cent gain against the greenback this year, belying the currency’s volatility in a year that delivered unexpected results in the UK’s vote on European Union membership and the US presidential election, as well as local interest rates sinking to a new record low.

The kiwi traded at US69.63c at 1.30pm in Wellington from US68.25c at the start of the year. However, New Zealand’s currency fell as low as US63.46c in January and peaked at US74.85c in September in a year that whipped the kiwi back and forth.

The greenback rallied through the final two months of the year after the surprise election of Donald Trump to the US presidency on a campaign of tax cuts and infrastructure spending gave the US Federal Reserve room to signal faster interest rate hikes next year after failing to deliver tighter policy this year.

The US dollar appreciation has slowed heading into the end of the financial year as China reduced the weighting of the US dollar in its yuan index basket of currencies.

“We’re definitely seeing some profit- taking, that’s most of it, and the yuan thing exacerbated it in thin, illiquid markets,” said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales NZ at ASB Institutional in Auckland. “There’s been a big squeeze over the new year on US dollars — the forward market’s quite illiquid — but it will get better” once trading desks re- open in January, he said.

The kiwi is heading for a 22 per cent gain against the British pound after the surprise vote against Britain retaining its EU membership in late June. The kiwi traded at 56.63p from 46.30p at the end of last year.

The local currency is heading for a 4.9 per cent increase to 65.97 euro cents and a 2.6 per cent rise to A96.15c since the start of the year.

The kiwi is heading for an 8.7 per cent gain to 4.8417 Chinese yuan, and a 1.1 per cent decline to 81.04 yen.