Quando shortare nz?
... caffè e ci si pensa
N.Z. Dollar Rises to Four-Week High on Interest-Rate Outlook
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar surged to a four-week high amid expectations the central bank may raise interest rates twice more to combat inflation, buoying investor demand for the currency.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Alan Bollard will raise the official cash rate a quarter point to 7 percent on Oct. 27, according to 13 of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. New Zealand's benchmark rate is the highest of any nation with the top credit rating at Moody's Investors Service, helping the currency gain 2.5 percent the past three months.
``The Reserve Bank will raise interest rates, but one rate hike may not be sufficient,'' said Kate Skinner, economist at ASB Bank Ltd. in Auckland.
The New Zealand dollar bought 70.32 U.S. cents at 5:10 p.m. in Wellington from 69.85 cents in late Asian trading yesterday. It traded as high as 70.44 cents, the highest since Sept. 21.
The currency reached an eight-year high of 81.16 Japanese yen and has gained 4.4 percent to 93.56 Australian cents the past three months.
One economist surveyed by Bloomberg, Darren Gibbs at Deutsche Bank AG in Auckland, expects a second rate rise to 7.25 percent at Bollard's final review of the year on Dec. 8. The yield on a three-month bank-bill futures contract maturing in December is 7.4 percent, suggesting traders are expecting two increases.
Bollard last week said that consumers had borrowed against the increasing value of their homes to finance renovations and purchases of cars and holidays, creating ``significant excesses'' in the economy. Higher spending may ``increase the work monetary policy has to do in order to contain inflation,'' he said in a speech.
New Zealand's benchmark rate is already 3 percentage points higher than the U.S. Federal Reserve target rate, helping buoy the local currency. It is the third best performed currency the past three months, lagging behind Brazil's real and the Canadian dollar.
... 
