Shares and dollar fall as RBNZ pulls the trigger

“No longer is the Bank on emergency settings, it’s now back on the path of traditional central banking,” said BNZ’s head of research Stephen Toplis.

NZ’s benchmark equity index lost almost a hundred points in the hours following the 2pm announcement, as investors waved goodbye to the era of ultra-low interest rates.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index ultimately closed 0.3% lower, at 13,166.44, with a turnover of $162 million.

Toplis said the key takeaway from the policy review was that RBNZ was not concerned with the spread of covid throughout NZ and won’t let it prevent tighter monetary conditions.