Dollar dip undone by exporter demand

The New Zealand dollar dipped slightly this morning from Friday's peak but is still well afloat above the US71 cent mark.

At 8am today it was worth US71.70c, down from US71.89c at 5pm on Friday.

It did drop as low as US71.21c early on Saturday morning, local time, but recovered slowly for the rest of the session.

The corrective dip for the dollar failed to push it into the US70c area as exporter demand unfolded through the local session and it should struggle today as the quarter end approached, said ANZ senior markets economist Khoon Goh.

The kiwi gained slightly against the British pound, up to 44.94p at 8am today, from 44.92p on Friday.

However, it lost ground against other currencies, down against the Australian dollar to A82.50 from A82.76c, down to 0.4872 euro from 0.4897 and sliding to 64.30 Japanese yen from 65.23.

The trade weighted index lowered to 65.26 from 65.61.

The US dollar had mixed trade offshore on Friday, falling to a seven-month low versus the yen, caught in crosscurrents of statements of support from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the Group of 20 summit and comments on continuing stimulus spending across the world.

The 16-nation euro edged up to $1.4665 in late New York trading from $1.4654 late Thursday. On Wednesday, the euro peaked at $1.4842, its highest level in 12 months.

The British pound fell to $1.5938 in late trading from $1.6063 Thursday, hitting its lowest point since mid-June after statements earlier this week from Bank of England officials who talked of the likelihood of bumps on the road to recovery and the usefulness of a weak currency.

The US dollar tumbled to 89.90 Japanese yen from 91.27 yen, sinking as low as 89.40 yen, its weakest point since February.

NZPA