Currency: Dollar boosted by stronger Aussie

The New Zealand dollar jumped near the day's end on the back of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision to keep interest rates steady across the Tasman.

The kiwi had weakened slightly in quiet trading with markets in the United States closed for the Independence Day long weekend, but received a boost from the RBA, as did the Australian dollar.

The bank said, in keeping rates at 4.5 per cent as expected, that the global economy had continued to expand recently, but domestic and international pressures meant the current rate was appropriate.

By 5pm, the kiwi was at US68.85c, below its high of US69.40c last night and little changed from its level this morning.

The kiwi was also fairly steady against the Australian dollar, at A81.88c, as it followed the currency higher against the US dollar.

It was flat against sterling at 45.44p, but fell to 0.5484 euro from 0.5501 yesterday, and to 60.35 yen from 60.66 yesterday.

The trade weighted index eased to 65.95 from 66.14.

Earlier in the day, the NZ dollar slipped as evidence emerged about falling business confidence and activity in the three months ended June, indicating a stalling economy.

The NZIER's quarterly business survey showed renewed weakness in manufacturing, construction and investment intentions.

The US dollar and yen made some gains thanks to a further decline in risk appetite, as investors worry about the health of Europe's banking system and the US economy, and a slowdown in China.

- NZPA