Currency: Kiwi steady ahead of poll

There were no last minute jitters in the currency market ahead of tomorrow's general election, with the New Zealand dollar booking a slight gain against the greenback today.

At 5pm today the kiwi was buying US70.76c, from US70.63c at the same time yesterday.

The kiwi was practically unchanged against the aussie today, after climbing yesterday on the back of a more hawkish than expected Monetary Policy Statement from the Reserve Bank.

In the US overnight the US August consumer price index rose 0.5 percent, just under economists' forecasts of a 0.6 percent rise. But the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's September survey of business conditions came up with a reading of 2.2, well below forecasts of 14.0.

The US dollar remained steady against most major currencies today as expectations rose that interest rates would be hiked this month.

Comments from Fed officials have suggested the key rate will rise on inflation concerns despite the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, tilting market expectations in favour of a 0.25 percentage point hike to 3.75 percent.

Today, many in the Tokyo market shied away from placing big bets on the US dollar ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan, and moves were stifled before the results of a German election on Sunday and the Fed's policy-setting meeting on Tuesday.

- REUTERS