澳元又降了(页 1) - 房地产贷款投资专区 -

澳元又降了

Australian, New Zealand Dollars Slide on Credit Market Losses

By David McIntyre

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell, the biggest fluctuation of any currencies today, as credit market losses prompted investors to sell high-yielding assets bought with funds borrowed in Japan.

The currencies headed for a third weekly drop against the yen as investors pared so-called carry trades after BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, yesterday said it halted withdrawals from funds that own subprime mortgages. Asian equities followed U.S. and European stocks lower and government bonds rose as investors shunned risk.

``Subprime is a car that is out of control, it is only a matter of time before it crashes,'' said Alex Sinton, senior currency dealer at ANZ National Bank Ltd. in Auckland. ``The New Zealand and Australian dollars are the possums in the headlights.''

The Australian dollar fell 1.5 percent to 84.25 U.S. cents as of 4:41 p.m. in Sydney from late in Asia yesterday, meaning it has lost 1.4 percent this week. It touched 84.01 cents, the least since June 28. The currency fell 2.2 percent against the yen today to 99.40.

New Zealand's dollar slid 2.1 percent to 74.23 U.S. cents from yesterday and has slumped 2.4 percent this week. It fell as low as 74.06 cents today, the lowest since June 1. The currency also slid 2.8 percent from yesterday to trade at 87.57 yen.

Ray Attrill, director of foreign exchange research at Forecast Ltd. in Sydney, said the two currencies were likely to attract buyers at these levels.

Congestion Area

The Australian dollar would look cheap under 85 cents, considering how wide the yield spread is, Attrill said. Australia's two-year government bonds yield 1.91 percentage points more than equivalent U.S. Treasuries, compared with yesterday's 1.97 point premium, the widest in 2 1/2 years.

New Zealand's dollar fell against the yen to a level where preset orders to buy the currency were set, Attrill said. The New Zealand-yen cross traded between 86.70 yen and 89.20 yen from April 13 to May 30, creating a level known as a congestion area, which the currency was in now, he said.

``The currency has just come into the congestion area and you tend to find some support there,'' Attrill said.

U.S. stocks slumped yesterday after France's BNP Paribas SA said it couldn't value the holdings of three funds linked to subprime mortgages. Asian stocks followed U.S. equities lower today with the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index dropping 3.2 percent to the lowest in more than two months.

Strong Correlation

The Australian dollar-yen cross had a correlation of 0.95 with the Asia-Pacific stock index in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The New Zealand dollar- yen cross also had a correlation of 0.95. A reading of 1 would mean the two securities moved in lock step.

The European Central Bank, in an unprecedented response to a sudden demand for cash from banks roiled by the subprime mortgage crisis, loaned 94.8 billion euros ($129 billion) to ease a credit crunch. Central banks in the U.S., Japan, and Australia followed by injecting more than average amounts of cash into the financial systems.

The three-month Australian bank bill swap rate, a benchmark for corporate borrowing, rose 6 basis points to 6.725 percent today, the highest since Oct. 24, 1996.

Japan's 0.5 percent overnight lending rate is the lowest of any major economy. New Zealand's 7.75 percent rate differential with Japan has helped the currency gain 4.6 percent versus the yen this year. Australia's dollar advanced 6 percent on the country's 6 percent rate premium.

`Fear and Loathing'

New Zealand's central bank has raised its official cash rate four times this year to 8.25 percent, the highest after Iceland among countries with the top credit rating at Moody's Investors Service. The Reserve Bank of Australia increased its key rate to an 11-year high of 6.5 percent on Aug. 8.

Australian and New Zealand government bonds rose as investors sought safer assets.

The yield on the Australian 10-year note fell 13 basis points to 5.92 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield on New Zealand's 10-year debt declined 14 basis points to 6.44 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

``There's a lot of fear and loathing out there,'' said Damien McColough, head of fixed-income research at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. ``Until I see evidence of what's going on spreading into the broader U.S. and global economy, I would suggest that the bond markets have overreacted.''

The world's biggest movers are based on changes in price yield and are screened for the size of the market and amount daily trading.

change RMB to oz dollar next week better

Agree!