The New Zealand dollar continued to gain ground today on the back of yesterday's strong gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
The June quarter GDP showed the economy had raced ahead much faster than expected, prompting some economists to tip another interest rate rise as soon as next month.
New Zealand's official interest rate of 6.75 per cent is the highest in the developed world, and the high yield has been a key driver in strengthening the kiwi.
At 5pm today the kiwi was buying US69.27c, up from US69.05c at the same time yesterday.
The official election result will be announced tomorrow morning, with the market expecting confirmation that Labour will get the first shot at forming a government.
Meanwhile, the US dollar continued to rally after the Congressional Budget Office said the harm to the US economy from hurricanes Katrina and Rita would be more modest than previously estimated and growth would return to trend by early next year.
This further cemented the market view that the Federal Reserve will keep up its 15-month campaign of raising interest rates -- key to the US dollar's rally this year.
The greenback also found support from a US government report showing the number of initial jobless benefit claims fell to 356,000 last week, well below a forecast of 420,000 from economists mindful of the hurricanes' after-effects.
The following are Reuters currency rates (5pm today and 5pm yesterday):
NZ dlr US69.27c US69.05c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A90.95c A90.85c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5751 0.5725
NZ dlr/yen 78.32 77.99
NZ dlr/stg 39.30p 39.03p
NZ TWI 70.29 70.06
Australian dollar US76.16c US76.00c
Euro/US dollar US1.2047 US1.2062
US dollar/yen 113.08 112.94
- NZPA, REUTERS
<EM>Currency</EM>: Kiwi continues to gain
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