Currency: Dollar gains against US, Australian

The New Zealand dollar gained against the American, Australian and the European currencies today, while falling slightly against the yen and the pound.

At 5pm, the NZ dollar was buying US61.79c, up slightly from US61.77c at the same time yesterday, but down on the US62.06c it reached this morning.

The NZ dollar was trading at A79.37c at 5pm from A79.20c yesterday. It fell against the yen to 58.50 from 58.54, and against the pound to 38.89p from 38.90p.

It gained to 0.4419 euro from 0.4416 yesterday, while the trade weighted index edged up to 58.80 from 58.79.

ANZ bank said that with the US and British markets taking Monday (local time) off, liquidity was thin on the ground.

"Remarkably", the NZ dollar shrugged off news of US dairy subsidies and North Korea's surprise nuclear test yesterday.

"A busy local data week, with Thursday's budget being the main event, should provide the market with more clues as to whether the NZD is justified at current levels. Our view is clearly not," ANZ said.

The US dollar rose from a five-month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as investors booked profits on a spike in the euro and other higher-yielding currencies.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance against six other major currencies, edged up 0.2 per cent to 80.146.

"The euro, the Australian dollar and sterling all have risen to levels where people would feel they have run their course for now," said Osamu Takashima, chief currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. "It's understandable to see profit-taking on them."

Activity picked up in Asia as US and British financial markets will resume trading later in the day after a three-day weekend.

Currency rates:

5pm today 5pm yesterday

NZ dlr/US dlr US61.79c US61.77c

NZ dlr/Aust dlr A79.37c A79.20c

NZ dlr/euro 0.4419 0.4416

NZ dlr/yen 58.50 58.54

NZ dlr/stg 38.89p 38.90p

NZ TWI 58.80 58.79

Aust dlr/US dlr 77.87c 77.96c

Euro/US dlr 1.3981 1.3992

US dlr/yen 94.65 94.77

- NZPA