New Zealand central bank cuts rates to record low India,...

• New Zealand central bank cuts rates to record low
• India, Thailand's central banks also cut rates
• Safe havens in demand on global growth concerns

(New throughout, updates trading and comments to U.S. market open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)

Safe haven currencies the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained on Wednesday after New Zealand’s central bank cut interest rates by more than expected, feeding concerns about the weak global economy.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut its official cash rate to a record low of 1% and flagged the possibility of using negative rates to stimulate the economy, sending its currency to 3-1/2 year lows. The Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Thailand also cut rates.

While central banks globally are adopting a more dovish outlook, investors remain worried.

“You’ve seen a couple of central banks ease policy today, some by more than expected, and you’re still seeing a more cautious market backdrop,” said Erik Nelson, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.

“I think there may still be some lingering concern over how much this easing will really support the global economy, or just maybe the idea of monetary policy impotence is in investors minds here,” Nelson said.

The New Zealand dollar was last down 1.47% at $0.6427 NZD= , bouncing off the session low of $0.6379. The Aussie fell 0.49% to $0.6725 AUD= as markets ramped up bets that Australia would cut rates faster and deeper than expected. The session low for the Australian dollar was $0.6678, the lowest since early 2009.

The Japanese yen JPY= gained 0.66% to 105.74 against the greenback, nearing an eight-month high of 105.51 reached on Tuesday. The Swiss franc CHF= gained 0.37% to 0.9727 against the U.S. currency.

The escalating U.S.-China trade war is adding to economic headwinds and hurting business sentiment. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose more tariffs on Chinese goods. On Monday, China responded by allowing its currency to weaken past 7 per dollar for the first time since 2008, and Washington labeled Beijing a currency manipulator.

The yuan weakened on Wednesday, but held above an 11-year low reached the previous session, before Beijing appeared to take steps to stabilize the currency.

The offshore yuan CNH= fell 0.52% to 7.0891.

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	Currency bid prices at 9:24AM (1324 GMT) 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous				   Change				  
											  Session											
 Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.1216		$1.1198	 +0.16%		 -2.21%	  +1.1220	 +1.1180 
 Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		105.7400	   106.4700	-0.66%		 -4.10%	  +106.4700   +105.7200 
 Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 118.64		 119.22	  -0.49%		 -6.02%	  +119.2800   +118.4600 
 Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		0.9727		 0.9763	  -0.37%		 -0.89%	  +0.9797	 +0.9725 
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.2143		 1.2166	  -0.19%		 -4.81%	  +1.2190	 +1.2122 
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.3328		 1.3278	  +0.38%		 -2.27%	  +1.3344	 +1.3269 
 Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.6725		 0.6760	  -0.49%		 -4.60%	  +0.6782	 +0.6678 
 ar																							  

 Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.0912		 1.0933	  -0.19%		 -3.04%	  +1.0959	 +1.0912 
 Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.9233		 0.9200	  +0.36%		 +2.77%	  +0.9241	 +0.9189 
 NZ			   NZD=		0.6427		 0.6523	  -1.47%		 -4.32%	  +0.6557	 +0.6379 
 Dollar/Dollar																				   

 Dollar/Norway	NOK=		8.9360		 8.9046	  +0.35%		 +3.44%	  +8.9500	 +8.8888 
 Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 10.0245		9.9730	  +0.52%		 +1.20%	  +10.0373	+9.9613 
 Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		9.6154		 9.5824	  +0.45%		 +7.27%	  +9.6254	 +9.5643 
 Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.7862		10.7377	 +0.45%		 +5.09%	  +10.7956	+10.7253