KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar rode out an ugly current account figure published today comparatively unscathed.
It closed on US75.63c, just a tad higher than its opening and slightly below its US75.73c close yesterday.
The September quarter deficit printed at $5.17 billion against forecasts of $4.9b.
And for the first quarter since March 2006, the annual deficit as a proportion of GDP rose - to 8.3 per cent.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said the deficit remained large, highlighting New Zealand's reliance on foreign savings at a time when global credit markets were still skittish.
But he added New Zealand remained comparatively well insulated.
ANZ bank said attempts to move the New Zealand dollar higher overnight were thwarted as selling interests kept it capped.
Weaker consumer confidence data released overnight had little impact on the kiwi but helped ensure it could not push higher.
The kiwi weakened against the Australian dollar, buying A87.92c at 5pm from A87.77c. The trade weighted index closed little changed on 70.01.
The US dollar held near an eight-week high against the euro, bolstered by ongoing demand to cover short positions in the US currency before investors close their books at the end of the year.
Currency rates at 5pm:
NZ dlr/US dlr US75.63c US75.73c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A87.92c A87.77c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5258 0.5253
NZ dlr/yen 85.66 85.77
NZ dlr/stg 37.84 37.57p
NZ TWI 71.01 70.97
Australian dollar US86.03c US86.28c
Euro/US dollar 1.4365 1.4418
US dollar/yen 113.30 113.26
- NZPA WGT
