KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar had a relatively settled day with the US Senate approval of an amended rescue package helping calm investors' nerves.
The NZ dollar was at US67.25c at 5pm from US67.46c at 8am and US67.03c at 5pm yesterday.
The US bailout of its financial sector still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives, but the progress is helping to reduce risk aversion. That should ultimately benefit currencies like the NZ dollar.
The NZ dollar has been rising against the Australian dollar and was at A84.99c at 5pm from A84.20c yesterday.
The approaching Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decision has all the focus on the Australian leg of this cross.
Having broken through major technical resistance at A85.10c, a close on a weekly basis was needed to see a return to A88c plus levels, the ANZ said.
At 5pm, the NZ dollar was buying 0.4810 euro from 0.4746 at 5pm yesterday, while against the yen it was at 71.20 from 71.02.
The trade weighted index was to 64.55 at 5pm, up from 64.05 at 5pm yesterday.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US67.25c US67.03c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A84.99c A84.20c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4810 0.4746
NZ dlr/yen 71.20 71.02
NZ dlr/stg 37.98p 37.56p
NZ TWI 64.55 64.05
Australian dollar US79.15c US79.60c
Euro/US dollar 1.3895 1.4129
US dollar/yen 105.86 105.89
- NZPA
