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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The dollar slid to a 13-month low against a basket of currencies as market players seized on surprisingly strong New Zealand economic growth data as a reason to push the kiwi dollar higher and dump the U.S. currency.
Even as commodity prices dipped, the dollar's woes have boosted oil and metals and given a lift resource-related shares around the region. Resource-heavy Australian stocks .AXJO outperformed other markets in the region.
"It's a mixture of optimism about global growth and stronger commodity prices, which is particularly good for Australia," said Tom Elliott, a fund manager with MM&E Capital, which oversees about A$50 million in Australian shares.
Activity was limited, with markets in Japan closed for a third straight day before reopening on Thursday.
Many investors were also awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day, looking for tweaks in its post-meeting statement that would acknowledge the economy's improvement and may suggest more steps towards winding down its emergency measures to support financial markets.
The Fed has already been meeting with primary bond dealers on Wall Street to discuss different methods for absorbing the massive reserves injected into the banking system to stave off the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The MSCI benchmark of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.4 percent, while the Thomson Reuters index of regional stocks .TRXFLDAXPU edged up 0.1 percent.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO was up 1.3 percent on the back of a rise in commodity-linked shares. BHP Billiton (BHP.AX), the world's biggest miner, rose 1 percent.
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