NZ dollar continues downward slide

The New Zealand dollar eased along with other currencies today as the US dollar rose and was back at new near-decade low against its trans-Tasman counterpart.

The NZ dollar was at US68.99c at 5pm from US69.70c at 5pm yesterday.

It was at A76.39c at 5pm from A77.10c at the same time yesterday. The kiwi fell to around A76.26c, its lowest level since November 2000, and it was again approaching that level as the domestic session drew to a close.

"The kiwi has weakened against the aussie and it is also weaker against the euro, yen and sterling overnight," one dealer said.

"We've drifted down as the aussie dollar drifted down but we've drifted down more quickly. The US dollar is broadly stronger in our day," he said.

BNZ strategist Mike Jones said yesterday's Australian GDP data, which showed Australian growth picked up to 2.7 per cent year-on-year, underscored the Reserve Bank of Australia's view the Australian economy was running close to trend.

The contrast with this country was obvious, with annual GDP growth here expected to be closer to flat in the fourth quarter, Mr Jones said.

The weakness of the NZ dollar against the aussie was again the New Zealand currency's "ball and chain" against the greenback.

ANZ bank said that with the Australian dollar clearly the favourite to win the "most attractive yield" and probably the "best performing economy", the NZ dollar's cross with the aussie could only move one way.

The NZ dollar was down to 0.5041 euro at 5pm from 0.5110 yesterday.

It also dropped to 60.99 yen from 61.81 yesterday, and to around 45.75p from 46.28p yesterday. The trade weighted index fell to 63.64 at 5pm from 64.39 yesterday.

- NZPA