New Zealand shifts right as Christopher Luxon named prime minister

Keep an eye on the New Zealand dollar at the weekly open.

In general, G7 elections aren’t a big deal in the FX market, particularly in a place as stable as New Zealand but this one turned out far different than polls had show. The National Party and Liberals were polling close to one another, at least until the last week or so. But the vote was a resounding win for the National party with a winning margin of 39%-27% and that will allow then to form a coalition government with the right-wing ACT party.

Liberal former prime minister Jacinda Ardern resigned in January saying she “didn’t have enough gas in the tank” for another election and was replaced by Chris Hipkins.

The incoming prime minister is now former businessman Christopher Luxon.

The New Zealand dollar sank on Friday on geopolitical worries after the attacks on Israel and that situation continues to be tense so whatever happens to NZD will need to be seen th