Too-Close-To-Call Kiwi Election Spooks Financial Markets
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N.Z. dollar falls when polls show Labour leading National
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‘Labour is being priced as a negative event at the moment’
New Zealand’s election is too close to call but one thing is clear: financial markets don’t want change.
The kiwi dollar has dropped whenever opinion polls show the main opposition Labour Party is ahead, while the currency jumped a full U.S. cent after a survey last week put the ruling National Party in the lead. The question is whether investors, including those offshore who hold 61 percent of New Zealand government bonds, simply dislike uncertainty or really think Labour’s policies would deliver poorer economic outcomes.
“A change of government to Labour is being priced as a negative event at the moment,” said Imre Speizer, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Auckland. “It may not necessarily be a kiwi dollar vote against the left wing, it may just be a vote against change.”…
Too-Close-To-Call Kiwi Election Spooks Financial Markets
