UPDATE: NZ dollar jumps as National leads in latest poll

UPDATE: NZ dollar jumps as National leads in latest poll

(Recasts and updates pricing on TWI and USD after poll)

By Rebecca Howard

Sept. 20 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar jumped half a cent when the latest poll showed the National Party leapfrogging its nearest rival ahead of Saturday's general election.

The kiwi reached as high as 73.72 US cents and was trading at 73.63 as at 6:05pm from 73.12 US cents immediately before the poll. It was at 72.78 cents late yesterday. The trade-weighted index rose to 76.63 as at 6:05pm from 75.97 yesterday.

The 1News Colmar Brunton showed the National Party rose six points to 46 percent compared to last week's poll while Labour fell seven points to 37 percent.

Any further gains in the dollar may be capped as investors await the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting.

"Out of New Zealand events today it would appear the Colmar Brunton poll has the most market focus," said Westpac Bank strategist Imre Speizer before the poll was released. The final leaders' debate tonight will also garner interest. There was no financial market reaction to news that the second-quarter current account deficit was narrower than economists were expecting.

However, Speizer said the main focus was on the Fed's interest rate decision, due at 1800 GMT on Wednesday, with no rate change the widely expected. However, the Fed could announce that it will begin paring its bond holdings, with reductions likely to start in coming months. Markets are also waiting for any hints of a rate hike in December. Concerns around US policies and data have created uncertainty about when the next lift might come.

Domestically, investors will also be watching for tomorrow's gross domestic product data. The median in a Bloomberg poll of 12 economists is for 0.8 percent GDP growth quarter-on-quarter in June and 2.5 percent on the year. While any surprise could cause a reaction in the kiwi, traders said it will be quickly overshadowed by the upcoming election.

The kiwi dollar was at 91.10 Australian cents as at 5pm from 91.25 cents. It rose to 54.03 British pence from 53.76 pence and gained to 60.84 euro cents from 60.77 cents. It rose to 81.43 yen from 81.24 yen and was at 4.7978 yuan from 4.7954 yuan.

The two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.24 percent while 10-year swaps rose 2 basis points to 3.27 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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