NZ dollar consolidates

File photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand dollar consolidated above the support level of US70c today to end a week of mixed signals about the global economic recovery.

By 5pm the NZ dollar was at US70.52c, up slightly from US70.37c and from US70.29c at 5pm yesterday.

Dealers said it was a day of consolidation in this market as investors waited for a speech by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke at the central banker governors' summit at Jackson Hole. Bernanke is expect to be cautious.

Equity markets in Asia were mixed today after Wall Street fell on Thursday.

BNZ markets strategist Mike Jones said there was a shaky improvement in investors' risk appetite on Thursday night.

That mostly related to the lack of any further "bad" news about the global economy. United States weekly jobless claims were not quite as weak as feared, German consumer confidence edged higher and a strong Irish debt auction kept European sovereign debt fears at bay, Mr Jones said.

Investors continue to key an eye out for intervention to knock the yen lower and speculation mounted today when the Kyodo news agency reported Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will hold a news conference later today.

The NZ dollar was at 59.73 yen at 5pm, up from 59.53 at 5pm yesterday. It was at 0.5541 euro from 0.5529 euro yesterday and at A79.45c from A79.28c yesterday.

The trade weighted index was 66.13 at 5pm from 65.95 at the same time yesterday.

- NZPA