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Roger J Kerr points out the strong relationship we have with rainfall and why the current dry sets the tone for the currency

Currencies
Roger J Kerr points out the strong relationship we have with rainfall and why the current dry sets the tone for the currency

By Roger J Kerr

The NZD/USD exchange rate has retreated from the resistance level of 0.7600 with a thump over the last couple of days.

It is never possible to pin-point the exact reason for this latest bout of Kiwi dollar selling, however the likely candidates to explain the sharp market price action are as follows:

• FX market positioning ahead of Thursday’s Monetary Policy Statement from the RBNZ who are never likely to say anything that could be construed as positive for the Kiwi dollar i.e. selling the Kiwi ahead of the anticipated Wheeler jawboning.

• Technically the Kiwi was a sell at 0.7600 with its failure to hold above the 50-day moving average.

• Despite the impressive jobs numbers in the US, the Dow Jones share index was smashed down on investors starting to worry about increasing US interest rates.

• A stronger USD against all currencies as the robust US jobs figures underlined the divergence between US and European monetary conditions/settings with the ECB commencing QE bond buying.

• Perhaps some of the anticipated unwinding of long Kiwi positions against the Aussie dollar i.e. NZD selling that has sent the NZD/AUD cross-rate sharply back from 0.9700 to 0.9500.

One of the risks to the stable NZD/USD rate outlook we have highlighted over recent weeks is the summer drought becoming more acute in terms of the medium term negative impact on agricultural production and overall GDP growth.

The RBNZ can be expected to emphasise this as a risk to the economy on Thursday and if it does not rain soon in some parts of the country the markets will be selling the Kiwi lower as they anticipate a more accommodative RBNZ monetary stance to the sudden change in economic fortunes.

The southern oscillation index (ultimately measuring rainfall in NZ) already points to a significant reduction in agricultural production once the current rush of livestock to the meat works subsides.

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Roger J Kerr is a partner at PwC. He specialises in fixed interest securities and is a commentator on economics and markets. More commentary and useful information on fixed interest investing can be found at rogeradvice.com

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15 Comments

Poor rainfall and the dollar drops. The "undisputed powerhouse" of New Zealand is agriculture.

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And the rain we just had is not sufficient to ease the slide in feed around these parts. Dry is the north islands new normal. At latest count 7 dry years in last 8. For central parts the mass removal of pine forests has changed our summers dramatically. And it continues.

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The weather we're having the Wairarapa is just the same as the 70's

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All to produce more milk powder. The conversions race on. Trees keep coming down, races fenced up.

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Bell, who ia behind the conversions from radiata around you? Looks a really bad idea from here.

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If I got the goss right on the people involved. I think they have oodles of money. Experienced at what they do, and do a good job. But yeah you gotta wonder. How much milk solids is too much milk solids. Did you get any of the weekends rainfall cowboy? Hoping this tropical storm drops down to us this weekend.

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Is that Landcorp you are talking about?

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Seriously I thort you knew me better than that Aj. No

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Its top secret?

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Wairakei pastoral isnt top secret. No this is elsewhere, Tokoroa. I think Reporoa is a desert every year now.

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Lol they will be on a loss making excercise.

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Its a long long long term investment and its not their money anyway, makes happy real estatre agents and local contractors, yep money down the plug hole.

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and here, makes one aware of what a monstrosity the wordls pension funds have become, soon they will own everything and we will all just work for our pension fund managers who will be the wealthiest people in the world.

 

http://www.agrimoney.com/news/swedish-fund-stokes-australia-farm-buying…

    http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23886
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