The New Zealand dollar continued to hover around the US71c mark today in continued quiet trading.
At 5pm in Wellington the kiwi was buying US71.20c from US71.08c at 5pm yesterday. The kiwi traded within a range of US71.00c and US71.30c today, but spent most of the session between US71.20c and US71.25c.
Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said liquidity was not too bad, but flow was light.
The market is likely to get a fresh directional cue from the interest rate announcement by the US Federal Reserve, at about 8am tomorrow New Zealand time.
The market has already factored in a 25 basis point interest rate rise, but the accompanying statement will be eyed with interest for clues about whether the Fed plans to stick with its previously announced "measured" pace of tighten.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today left interest rates unchanged.
The bank did not issue a statement, but was due to release a quarterly monetary statement next week, which should provide more clues to future moves.
Although the RBA had not been expected to raise rates today, the market had seen a small chance of a surprise hike.
"After the no-change decision there was disappointment of the most modest kind," Mr Bayley said.
This led to the kiwi/aussie cross coming off slightly. At 5pm today the kiwi was at A91.93c, having traded as high as A92.20c during the day, and from A91.87c at 5pm yesterday.
At 5pm today the Australian dollar was buying US77.50c, from 77.37c at 5pm last night. Meanwhile, the greenback was at 103.72 yen (103.66 at 5pm yesterday), and the euro was at US$1.3081 (US$1.3047).
On its other crosses at 5pm today the kiwi was buying 0.5446 euro (0.5448), 37.79 British pence (37.72), 73.89 yen (73.69), and 0.8464 Swiss francs (0.8452)
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary conditions index was at plus 940 (934), while the trade weighted index (TWI ) was at 69.18 (69.12).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.80 per cent (6.79), November 2006 bond yields were unchanged at 6.32 per cent, July 2009s were at 6.08 per cent (6.10) and April 2015s were at 5.98 per cent (6.02).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi bobs around US71c
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