New Zealand: Dollar Drops After RBNZ Rate Hike.

The New Zealand dollar fell to around $0.585 on Wednesday, its lowest level in almost three weeks, even as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised interest rates for a second straight meeting. The RBNZ increased the OCR by 25 basis points to 2.75%, as widely expected, reiterating the need to withdraw monetary stimulus to contain elevated inflation. Its latest projections also suggest there could be one more quarter-point rate increase before the end of the year. Policymakers began lifting the cash rate in July, signaling a shift toward less accommodative monetary settings as headline inflation moved above the central bank’s 1%-3% target range. Attention now turns to Governor Anna Breman’s post-meeting comments for further clues on the outlook for interest rates.