KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar edged closer to a six-year low against the greenback today, as data confirmed a slowing job market.
The kiwi slipped below US50.20c briefly in late-afternoon trade and by 5pm was buying US50.33c from US50.85c at 8am today.
Statistics New Zealand figures showed total paid hours worked fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.4 per cent in the year to December, the first annual decrease since 1999. For the December quarter, seasonally adjusted total paid hours were also down 1.4 per cent.
Seasonally adjusted total gross earnings increased by 4.1 per cent in the year to December, but did not increase in the December quarter.
The weak local data hit markets already nervous after the United States reported at the end of last week its swiftest economic contraction in 27 years in the three months to December.
A steady stream of bad news is steering investors away from growth currencies such as the NZ dollar, in favour of safer havens such as the US dollar or yen, which both gained.
The kiwi fell to 45.09 yen by the local close from 45.73 at 8am. Westpac Bank said weak Japanese data last week supported a theme of Japanese repatriation from fringe asset markets such as New Zealand, and the next move should be an assault on strong support at 45 yen.
Westpac also expected a few days consolidation for the kiwi against the greenback before an attempt on US50c.
The NZ dollar also slipped to 0.3958 euros by 5pm from 0.3972 at the local open, while against the Australian dollar the kiwi was down to A79.63c from A79.83c. The trade weighted index was 51.27 at 5pm from 51.61 at 8am.
Currency rates:
5pm today 5pm Friday
NZ dlr/US dlr US50.33 US50.89
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A79.63 A78.99
NZ dlr/euro 0.3958 0.3949
NZ dlr/yen 45.09 45.48
NZ dlr/stg 35.08 35.85
NZ TWI 51.27 51.47
Aust dlr/US dlr 63.21 64.34
Euro/US dlr 1.2714 1.2885
US dlr/yen 89.54 89.23
- NZPA
