KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar ended a volatile week's trading with a firm performance.
By 5pm it was buying US52.86c from US52.90c yesterday, having ranged during the night between about US53.40c and US52.20c.
It has been a big week for the currency, which fell from around US55.45c to a six-year low at US51.65c in the first three days of the week.
The NZ dollar recovered from lows care of a squeeze on short positions but analysts were still calling it down.
The kiwi rose a little against the Australian dollar to A80.85c from A80.60c at yesterday's local close.
BNZ Capital said the NZ dollar/Australian dollar cross was likely to go lower but not get anywhere near last year's A77.00c lows.
"While both economies will find the coming year a challenge, the Australian economy is probably in marginally better shape than New Zealand."
The NZ dollar was little changed against both the Japanese and European currencies from 5pm yesterday, buying 0.4085 euro and 47.05 yen at the local open.
The trade weighted index was 53.33, from 53.15 yesterday.
The US dollar rose against most major currencies after Treasury Secretary designate Timothy Geithner reiterated support for a strong dollar.
However, the US dollar weakened against the yen after a report showed a larger-than-expected increase in the number of US workers filing claims for jobless benefits as a year-long recession continued to chill the labour market.
Gains in the yen were limited by investors on alert for possible Bank of Japan intervention. The yen was near a 13-1/2-year peak against the greenback and hit a seven-year high versus the euro this week.
Currency rates:
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US52.86c US52.90c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A80.85c A80.60c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4085 0.4060
NZ dlr/yen 47.05 46.99
NZ dlr/stg 38.30p 37.95p
NZ TWI 53.33 53.15
Aust dlr/US dlr US65.38c US65.60c
Euro/US dlr 1.2946 1.3016
US dlr/yen 88.98 88.96
- NZPA
