The Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Brazilian real and the Turkish lira were all marked down during the market squalls, particularly against a resurgent yen.
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The yen, yielding just 0.5%, was a cheap source of borrowed funds to buy much higher-yielding currencies like the New Zealand dollar, oil, U.S. high-yield bonds or even gold.
The yen's rise against the New Zealand dollar, about 7% over the last week, has pretty much wiped out any advantage a trader had in parking money in the Kiwi.
So we will see asset classes that will have very good runs (commodities, high-yield debt, currencies like the New Zealand dollar) only to lose a good deal of those gains in a short period.
Direct convertibility between the Chinese yuan and New Zealand dollar would end the need for New Zealand's companies and currency traders to convert New Zealand dollars or yuan into U.S. dollars when making or receiving payments.
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Recreational cycling was already on a roll, when in 2009 a 50 million New Zealand dollar government fund was established to create a continuous touring route running the length of the country, supported at a grass roots level by an additional 50 million New Zealand dollars offered up by councils and local organisations.
This has happened in New Zealand, where the currency, the kiwi dollar, has fallen by 15% in trade-weighted terms over the past year.
But the economic cycles of Australia and New Zealand have at times diverged substantially and could do so in future at a high cost to New Zealand, were its currency tied to the Australian dollar.
ECONOMIST: Should Australia and New Zealand form a currency union?
Over the past year, in contrast, its trade-weighted value has hardly budged, because the currencies of three of Australia's most important trading partners Japan, New Zealand and South Korea have also tumbled against the American dollar.
Linking the kiwi dollar to the Australian dollar would not eliminate the overall risk of exchange-rate volatility facing New Zealand firms.
ECONOMIST: Should Australia and New Zealand form a currency union?
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