KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar lost ground again today as Asian equity markets fell, increasing risk aversion once again.
Having traded between US54.70c and US55.05c overnight, the NZ dollar was around US55c by 8am but was back down at US54.09c by 5pm.
The focus is also turning to the Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement on December 4 where another aggressive cut in the Official Cash Rate is expected. Some banks are already adjusting retail rates lower in anticipation as the downward direction in interest rates in indisputable.
Also Fonterra is expected to cut its forecast payout to farmers tomorrow, which is another negative for the economy.
There are few reasons to buy the New Zealand dollar.
The NZ dollar dropped to a three-week low against the euro early today around 0.4310, and by the local close was 0.4325 from 0.4362 at 5pm yesterday.
The NZ dollar slipped to 51.70 yen by 5pm from 53.14, and was also down against the Australian dollar to A84.78c from A85.15c at yesterday's local close.
The trade weighted index was down to 55.51 at 8am from 56.29.
- NZPA
