7/24/2008 21:48
New Zealand dollar drops to new multi-month low versus yen
The New Zealand dollar fell to a new multi-month low of 79.48 versus the Japanese yen in early Asian trading on Friday. This marked a 21/2-month low for the pair. Trading took place amid report that the annual inflation in Japan increased 2.0% in June. The kiwi-yen pair closed yesterday's deals at 79.79.The core CPI, which removes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.9% in June, according to data released Friday by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Excluding both fresh food and energy prices, Japan's CPI rose just 0.1% on year in June, the report said. At the same time, the core index for the Tokyo metropolitan area for July climbed a preliminary 1.6% on year. Tokyo CPI is considered a leading indicator for nationwide consumer prices.
The New Zealand dollar also edged lower versus other major currencies during Friday's early Asian trading. Against the euro, the kiwi was testing yesterday's multi-year low when the pair fetched 2.1177 around 8:30 pm ET Thursday. The euro-kiwi pair, which closed yesterday's deals at 2.1102 is currently trading at 2.1139. The kiwi lost some ground versus the US dollar in the early Asian session on Friday. The kiwi reached a low of 0.7408 versus the buck around 8:20 pm ET Thursday, down from a high of 0.7446 hit two hours ago. Currently, the pair is quoted at 0.7414. Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved