KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar fell to an 11-month low against the greenback shortly before 8am today, as the US currency gained while the price of oil continued to fall.
By 8am the kiwi was buying US69.84c, having dropped to around US69.75c a little earlier, from US70.05c at 5pm yesterday. The NZ dollar has fallen sharply from around US77.60c in mid-July.
While the kiwi declined overall during the night it did spike up earlier in the session, getting up near US70.85c.
The ANZ bank said a tentative market had not been quite ready to take the NZ dollar lower as profit taking from recent positions spiked both the NZ and Australian currencies higher.
"Enough local selling helped to cap and reverse things," ANZ said.
"The relative story continues today with markets searching out the positive USD stories and focusing on falling commodity prices. This is likely to add to recent weakness in both the NZD and AUD throughout Asian trading today."
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was continuing to hold onto the gains of the last fortnight, opening locally today at A79.14c from A78.98c at 5pm.
The kiwi was also buying 0.4686 euro at 8am from 0.4675 at yesterday's local close, while against the yen it slipped to 76.94 from 77.08. The trade weighted index was 64.59 at 8am from 64.61.
The US dollar rallied to a 5-1/2-month high against the euro, boosted by another drop in crude oil prices and speculation that the slowdown blighting the US economy was spreading worldwide.
Mounting signs of economic difficulties in Europe, Asia and Australia have diminished prospects of higher interest rates outside the United States, bolstering demand for the greenback.
- NZPA
