The New Zealand dollar rose ahead of the Reserve Bank's interest rate review while many other currencies fell against the greenback on the prospects for US rate hikes and President Donald Trump's plan to slash taxes.
The kiwi dollar gained to 72.17 US cents as at 8am in Wellington from 72.09 cents late yesterday. The trade-weighted index rose to 76.11 from 75.85 yesterday.
Market bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in December have increased to 72 per cent, helped by what were taken as hawkish comments by chair Janet Yellen, who warned this week of the dangers of "persistently easy monetary policy". Meanwhile, Trump unveiled plans to overhaul US taxes, slashing the corporate rate to 20 per cent from 35 per cent and reducing the top tax rate to 35 per cent from 39.6 per cent, although he didn't set out how this would be achieved without driving up the US federal deficit. In New Zealand, acting Reserve Bank governor Grant Spencer is expected to keep the official cash rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent.
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