The New Zealand dollar is tumbling after prime minister Key resigns

Markets Insider

The New Zealand dollar is tumbling after the country’s prime minister unexpectedly resigned.

The kiwi is down by 0.9% at 1.4130 per US dollar as of 7:37 a.m. ET.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his resignation on Monday morning local time after eight years in the nation’s top job.

“A good leader knows when it’s time to go, and it’s time to go,” he said.

Key will step down next Monday as both PM and Nationals leader and is likely to be succeeded by his deputy, Bill English.

As for the rest of the world, here’s the scoreboard as of 7:40 a.m. ET:

• The euro retraced its earlier losses and is now up by 0.2% at 1.0688 against the dollar. Earlier, the currency tumbled against the greenback to a low of 1.0506, the weakest level since March 2015, after Italy’s prime minister resigned amid a landslide defeat in the Italian referendum vote.
• The Russian ruble is up by 0.3% at 63.6994 per dollar as crude oil touched its best level in 17 months earlier on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate Crude climbing 1.3% to $52.18 per barrel. Oil prices have since back-tracked slightly, and WTI is now up by 0.6% at $51.95 per barrel, while Brent Crude, the international benchmark, is higher by 0.6% at $54.78 per barrel.
• The British pound is little changed at 1.2710 against the dollar after services PMI came in at 55.2 in November, above expectations of 54.0, and an uptick from the prior month’s 54.5.
• The US dollar index is down by 0.1% at 100.67 ahead of data. Services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing will be out at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively.
• The Japanese yen is down by 0.7% at 114.32 per dollar.