NZ dollar consolidates around US77c

The New Zealand dollar consolidated near US77c today after rising above that level on Thursday night as the euro strengthened and jobless claims in the United States jumped to their highest level since October.

Dips for the NZ dollar were extremely well supported as higher commodity price information prevented any drop. The ANZ commodity price index for December, published yesterday, was at record levels as it chalked up a fourth consecutive month of increases.

At 5pm today the NZ dollar was buying US77.02c, up from US76.94c at 8am and from US76.16c at 5pm yesterday. It is just below the January 4 level of US77.42c.

The NZ dollar market was quiet today with little news to trade on. Next week the Consumers Price Index December quarter will be a focus.

A strong New Zealand government bond auction this week was also a positive factor for the currency with demand from a large international investor reported to behind the strong result.

The NZ dollar fell to 0.5774 euro from 0.5810 euro yesterday. The euro posted its biggest rise against the US dollar in more than six months after solid European debt auctions and a warning of short term inflation risks from the head of the European Central Bank.

Though ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said price stability was not under threat, his remarks drove expectations the ECB could raise interest rates.

The NZ dollar was at A77.27c at 5pm, up from A76.57c at the same time yesterday and was at 63.58 yen from 63.20 yen yesterday. The trade weighted index lifted to 69.19 from 68.85 at 5pm.

- NZPA