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SYDNEY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar was sent reeling from multi-year peaks on Friday as a rout in bond markets spread to other risk assets, spurring the country’s central bank to intervene to stem a savage selloff in government debt.
The Aussie had been flying high overnight as it cleared the $0.8000 barrier for the first time since early 2018, but gravity returned with a bump when world stock markets took fright.
That left the currency flat at $0.7860, from a top of $0.8007, having shed 1.2% late on Thursday. It also wiped out the week’s gains and put pressure on support around $0.7820.
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LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Central bankers worldwide have been unequivocal: There are no plans to cut back on money-printing any time soon, let alone raise interest rates.
FILE PHOTO: Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell listens during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on The Quarterly CARES Act Report to Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2020. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERS
Markets do not seem to be buying it.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose on Wednesday to one-year highs above 1.4%, extending this year’s near 50 basis-point jump that has dragged up sovereign borrowing costs in Europe, Japan and elsewhere. Yields retreated later in the session to 1.37%.
RBNZ will need to explain impacts on housing regularly Debt-to-income ratios and interest only mortgages considered (Adds background, comments from analyst and opposition leader)
WELLINGTON/SYDNEY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The New Zealand government on Thursday tasked the country’s central bank with considering the impact its monetary and financial policy decisions have on housing prices, a move to help calm the country’s red-hot property market.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) must take into account government policy relating to more sustainable house prices.
“Today’s announcement is just the first step as the government considers broader advice about how to cool the housing market,” Robertson said in a statement. “We know the rapid increases we have seen in recent months are not sustainable, which has meant many first-home buyers are struggling to access the market.”
Falling tech stocks in China and Hong Kong pulled Asia's markets sharply lower on Wednesday, as recent gains in U.S. Treasury yields put lofty equity valuations under pressure even as bond markets stabilised.
Euro zone economic sentiment rose more than expected in February, buoyed by more optimism in industry, services and among consumers, boosting inflation expectations among producers and consumers, data showed on Thursday.