The kiwi gained against the greenback today after the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent.
At 5pm today the New Zealand dollar was at US71.30c, from US71.20c at 5pm yesterday.
A Wellington dealer said the kiwi was trading at around US71.10c/US71.15c prior to the US Federal Reserve's rate hike announcement just after 8am NZT. Following the hike the kiwi rallied to a session high of US71.47c, before gradually drifting lower.
"I guess the market was pre-positioned for a tightening, so the market got what it wanted and everyone unwound their weak speculative positions," the dealer said.
He said the tone for most of the session was directionless range trading, in line with the past few days.
US non-farm payrolls data due out overnight Friday NZT could provide the market with some direction.
At 5pm today the greenback was at 104.14 yen (103.72 at 5pm yesterday), the euro was at $US1.3024 ($US1.3081) and the aussie was buying US77.58c (US77.50).
On the crosses, the kiwi was unchanged at A91.93 , 0.5476 euro (0.5446), 37.85 British pence (37.79), 74.26 yen (73.89), and 0.8524 Swiss francs (0.8464)
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary conditions index was at plus 951 (940), while the trade weighted index (TWI ) was at 69.34 (69.18).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.79 percent (6.80), November 2006 bond yields were unchanged at 6.32 percent, July 2009s were at 6.07 percent (6.08) and April 2015s were at 5.97 percent (5.98).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi drifts within bounds of recent ranges
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