KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar continued to slip late today as a surprisingly large rate cut in Australia pushed the currencies down on both sides of the Tasman.
By 5pm, the kiwi was at US58.70c, down from US59.27c late yesterday afternoon. The kiwi had hit a high of US59.75c during the overnight session before easing.
Against the Aussie, the kiwi rose to A88.44c from A86.90c yesterday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut official interest rates by 75 basis points to 5.25 per cent, where it had been expected to cut by 50 points.
The RBA commented that: "International economic data have continued to point to significant weakness in the major industrial economies, and there have been further signs that China and other parts of the developing world are slowing as well".
The odds were shifting to a similar-sized rate cut in New Zealand in December to 5.75 per cent, given the two economies' similarities, ANZ said.
The kiwi was mixed against other currencies, gaining against the euro and sterling and losing ground against the yen.
The US dollar was steady ahead of the US presidential election, while the euro slipped ahead of an expected European Central Bank rate cut on Thursday to 3.25 per cent from the current 3.75 per cent.
Central banks around the world have lowered rates to fight the worst financial crisis in 80 years.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US58.70c US59.27c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A88.44c A86.90c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4670 0.4610
NZ dlr/yen 57.95 58.85
NZ dlr/stg 37.40p 36.39p
NZ TWI 59.75 59.58
Australian dollar US66.34c US68.15c
Euro/US dollar 1.2556 1.2861
US dollar/yen 98.68 99.33
- NZPA
