New Zealand’s dollar traded near a 10-year low against Australia’s currency before a government report that economists said will show the smaller nation’s economy almost stalled in the third quarter. The so-called kiwi weakened against all except one of its 16 major counterparts after data today showed New Zealand’s current-account deficit widened as exports declined. Australia’s currency was close to a seven-month high against the yen after an index of leading indicators for the South Pacific nation’s economy increased. “I’m relatively bearish on the kiwi,” said Masashi Murata, vice president of foreign exchange in Tokyo at BBH Investment Services Inc., a unit of New York-based Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. “New Zealand fails to benefit from increasing demand in emerging markets, which in turn diminishes expectations for domestic consumption and an interest-rate hike.” New Zealand’s dollar traded at NZ$1.3414 per Aussie as of 4:22 p.m. in Sydney from NZ$1.3406 yesterday in New York, after dropping to NZ$1.3446 earlier today, the weakest since September 2000. New Zealand’s currency was at 74.32 U.S. cents from 74.42 cents, and bought 62.23 yen from 62.31 yen. The Australian dollar was at 99.71 U.S. cents from 99.79 cents, and traded at 83.47 yen from 83.56 yen, after rising to 83.69 yen on Dec. 14, the strongest since May 13. Growth Slows New Zealand’s gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent in the three months to Sept. 31 from the prior quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey before tomorrow’s report. The economy grew 0.2 percent in the three months ended June 30. Statistics New Zealand said the current-account deficit widened to NZ$1.77 billion ($1.31 billion) last quarter, from NZ$987 million the prior period. Australia’s index of future economic growth rose 0.3 percent in October, Westpac Banking Corp. and the Melbourne Institute said today. The Aussie snapped a two-day advance against the greenback before a government report forecast to show the U.S. economy grew faster than previously reported, increasing demand for assets in the world’s largest economy. “Over the past week, we’ve seen resistance coming in at around the parity level” for the Australian dollar against the greenback, said Jonathan Cavenagh, a Singapore-based currency strategist at Westpac, Australia’s second-largest lender. “That dollar strength will spill over into the Aussie-U.S. to some extent and certainly limit the Aussie-U.S.’s upside.” U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual pace in the third quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey, quicker than the 2.5 percent estimate published last month. The report is due today. To contact the reporter on this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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