The kiwi today continued to back down from the histor ic high it reached earlier in the year, as the greenback consolidated its recent gains.
At 5pm in Wellington the kiwi was buying US72.20c (from US72.36c at 5pm yesterday), well down on the fresh post-float high of US73.05c it hit in Tuesday's offshore session .
The greenback gained on upbeat economic data, with a strong US durable goods orders report indicating strength in the economy assuaging worries over record US budget and current account deficits.
At 5pm the US dollar was buying 75.83 yen (76.10 yen), the euro was buying $US1.3199 ($US1.3238) and the aussie was buying US78.52c (US78.83c).
A Wellington dealer said forex markets were waiting on key fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures out of the US overnight. A strong GDP figure could spur further greenback buying.
The median forecast in a Reuters poll is for a rise to 3.7 percent from 3.1 percent, mainly due to the unexpected narrowing of the trade gap in December. Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben Bernanke gave the market more reason to expect a stronger figure, saying on Friday he expected the revised figures to show growth of around 4 percent.
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was buying A91.93c (A91.79c), 0.5470 euros (0.5465), 37.80 pence (37.90), 76.10 yen (75.83), and 0.8439 Swiss francs (0.8407).
The Trade Weighted Index (TWI) was at 69.93 (69.91). The monetary conditions index was at plus 1000 (999).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 6.86 percent, July 2009 bonds were at 6.16 percent (6.14) and April 2015s were at 6.02 percent (5.98).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi continues to soften
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