Dollar lower as euro, Aussie weaken in Asia

The New Zealand dollar eased today as the United States dollar rose amid ongoing worries about sovereign debt and on news that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is selling more of its bullion holdings.

The NZ dollar was at US70.05c at 5pm from US70.45c at the same time yesterday.

The euro was under pressure from ongoing worries about Greece's finances, while commodity currencies came under pressure after the IMF said it planned to sell 191.3 tonnes of gold in phased open-market sales.

"The weakness of the euro is dragging everything lower," said Murray Hindley, chief dealer at ANZ.

The news of the IMF plan to sell gold hurt the Australian dollar.

The US dollar rose to a seven-month high against a basket of currencies, reflecting the weakness on commodity currencies and lower bullion prices, Reuters reported.

An upbeat speech about the prospects for the Australian economy by Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Philip Lowe was noted, but was not cited as a market mover by dealers.

Upbeat US data has also reinforced the idea the US economy was gradually strengthening, in contrast to the recent stalling in the Eurozone economies - sending the euro plunging.

Against the Australian dollar, the NZ dollar was worth A78.13c at 5pm from A78.23c yesterday.

The NZ dollar rose to 0.5160 euro from 0.5116 yesterday, and against the Japanese yen it was little changed at 63.68 from 63.32.

The trade weighted index was at 65.01 from 64.93 yesterday.

- NZPA