Currency: Kiwi pushes back through US68c

The New Zealand dollar pushed back through US68c today.

At 5pm the kiwi was fetching US68.44c, from US67.95c at 5pm Friday.

The kiwi lost 2.18 percent against the US dollar last week after it was heavily sold off following government warnings about risks for investors in uridashi and eurokiwi.

The kiwi's slight recovery today has been aided by a broadly weaker US dollar, which hit its lowest levels in four months against the euro and the Swiss franc today.

The greenback was dented by comments last week from a Federal Reserve official suggesting the 18-month run of interest rate rises was near an end, as well as the release of weaker than expected US retail sales and higher than forecast producer prices on Friday.

US December headline producer prices rose 0.9 percent, above economists' forecasts for a rise of 0.4 percent, but core producer prices excluding food and energy rose 0.1 percent, compared with economists' forecasts for a rise of 0.2 percent.

US December retail sales rose 0.7 percent, below forecasts for a rise of 0.9 percent. Excluding autos, they rose 0.2 percent compared with forecasts for a rise of 0.4 percent.

Downward pressure on the US dollar is also increasing as the US Federal Reserve looks to be approaching the end of its monetary tightening cycle.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand holds its next interest rate review this Thursday, and is widely expected to hold rates steady at 7.25 percent.

5pm today 5pm Friday

NZ dlr/US dlr US68.44c US68.08c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A90.84c A90.94c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5589 0.5636
NZ dlr/yen 78.42 78.71
NZ dlr/stg 38.41 38.76
NZ TWI 69.39 69.55

Australian dollar US75.39 US74.87
Euro/US dollar US1.2243 US1.2081
US dollar/yen 114.67 115.58