NZ dollar firm against US

The New Zealand dollar held firm against the greenback today, not far from last week's nine-month peak of US66.32c.

By 5pm the NZ dollar was trading at US65.91c, up from US65.70c at the same time yesterday.

It had edged up since 8am this morning, when kiwi was trading at US65.64c, but down from US66.10c it reached around 11.30pm yesterday.

This morning, ANZ bank said it expected the NZ dollar to continue lagging behind other currencies as the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision on Thursday approached.

The New Zealand dollar fell further against the Australian dollar, reaching A79.57c at 5pm today, from A79.78c by 8am and A80.06c at 5pm yesterday.

The NZ dollar was up slightly to 0.4623 euro from 0.4615 yesterday, and 62.65 yen from 62.30.

The trade weighted index rose to 61.44 from 61.40.

The euro held firm against the US dollar, after hitting its highest level in eight weeks the previous day, when a jump in US new-home sales encouraged investors to seek riskier assets.

The Australian dollar jumped after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the economy had fared well enough that upside risks to the outlook now balanced out those on the downside, adding there was a danger that low interest rates could inflate home prices.

The euro was trading at US$1.4260 at 5pm today, from US$1.4236 yesterday. The Australian dollar traded at US82.85c, up from US82.03c yesterday

- NZPA