NZ dollar drops after weak Chinese manufacturing figures, hawkish Fed minutes

NZ dollar drops after weak Chinese manufacturing figures, hawkish Fed minutes
By Paul McBeth Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar dropped in local trading after weaker-than expected Chinese manufacturing figures raised concern about the strength of the regional economy, and after minutes to the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting were more hawkish than some in the market were thinking. The kiwi dropped to 82.54 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.02 cents at 8am and 82.99 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 77.53 from 77.83 yesterday. The HSBC purchasing managers’ index showed a prelimi...