NZ dollar falls as risk appetite ebbs

The New Zealand dollar declined against the greenback and the yen as equities markets and commodities fell and figures showed the US economy is still growing only weakly. The kiwi dollar fell to 83.17 US cents from 83.42 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Thursday. The local currency sank to 77.36 yen from 77.97 yen. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Commodity Index fell 1.1 percent on Thursday while Solid Energy's weak finances underlined the damage caused by falling prices of coal Stocks declined in Asia on Thursday and continued into Europe, where manufacturing and services were weak, and the US, where jobless claims rose, consumer prices flatlined and the Philadelphia Fed's business index dropped. "That makes a combination of things that are risk-off" for the kiwi, said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales at ASB Institutional. The trade-weighted index fell to 76.09 from 76.22. source:3news