KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar fell against the greenback for most of the night, getting close to the six-year low hit yesterday before staging something of a late recovery.
By 8am today the kiwi was buying US52.48c, after falling to a six-year low around US51.65c yesterday lunchtime, according to Reuters data. It rebounded from that bottom to edge briefly above US53c yesterday evening, before falling erratically to around US51.70c early today and then recovering again.
ANZ today said the relatively small trading range the kiwi found itself in overnight belied the large moves seen among the major currency pairs.
Several tests by the NZ dollar below US52c during the past 24 hours had been quickly thwarted as buyers of the NZ dollar took advantage of multi-year lows, ANZ said.
Big gains were made by the yen overnight as it soared against the US dollar in technical trading.
The NZ dollar screeched down more than 2 yen in an hour early today to an eight-year low around 45.10 yen about 5am, but the kiwi then rebounded strongly to 46.35 by the local open.
Against the euro the kiwi hit a low around 0.4010 early today but then rebounded to be at 0.4072 around 8am.
By the local open the kiwi was at A80.18c against the Australian dollar, down from A80.70c at 5pm yesterday, while the trade weighted index fell to 52.94 at 8am from 53.32 at 5pm.
The US dollar fell as low as 87.15 yen overnight, before partially recovering.
The greenback selling against the yen spilled over into euro/yen with the single currency falling to its lowest level since March 2002.
The greenback rose to a fresh 7-1/2 year high against sterling as woes about the British banking sector continued to weigh on the pound.
The dramatic decline in currencies against the yen raised speculation Japanese authorities may intervene to stem the rise in the yen.
- NZPA
