The New Zealand dollar today recovered some of yesterday's losses when it sank to its lowest for the year in the wake of weaker than expected retail sales data for the Christmas period.
It lifted sharply to US67.75c from an overnight low of US67.10c. Yesterday, it dropped half a cent to US67.40c on the retail sales.
The US dollar edged up against the yen though traders said the US currency's rise was stymied by investor caution ahead of testimony from the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The greenback was given a lift from yen selling against the euro and the high-yielding New Zealand and Australian dollars on a view that the Bank of Japan won't end its ultra-easy monetary policy soon, traders said.
The kiwi gained on most crosses except the aussie dollar and made up over one cent against the euro to be on 0.5675.
The kiwi-aussie cross rate fell to A91.34c from A91.52c yesterday, reflecting the Australian dollar's rise against the US dollar to US74.05c from US73.68c.
US retail sales data for January, in contrast to New Zealand's data, came out stronger than expected. The data increased expectations the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates.
Yield demand for the kiwi remains high, with Rabobank Nederland looking to sell $796 million of uridashi bonds this month.
The following are Reuters currency rates:
5PM today 5pm Tuesday
NZ dlr US67.65c US67.40c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A91.34c A91.52c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5675 0.5565
NZ dlr/yen 79.68 79.18
NZ dlr/stg 38.99p 38.72p
NZ TWI 69.78 69.56
Australian dollar US74.05c US73.68c
Euro/US dollar US1.1922 US1.1905
US dollar/yen 117.76 117.42
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Dollar recovers some of yesterday's losses
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