The New Zealand dollar sank to below US69c at its local close today as it traded near five week lows under pressure from a stronger US dollar.
At 5pm today the New Zealand dollar was fetching US68.78c from US69.20c at the same time yesterday, having traded in a range of US68.77c to US69.08c range during today's local session.
The kiwi softened slightly against the aussie dollar, buying A93.10c at 5pm today from A93.29c at the same time yesterday.
On the local data front, the New Zealand government's operating surplus for three months to September 30 was released today, coming in at $2.67 billion, above forecast by $1.3 billion on the back of gains from investments.
The US dollar was boosted by continued hawkish talk by US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, who earlier this week raised the key interest rate for the 12th straight time to 4 per cent, and suggested he would keep raising at a measured pace.
This contrasted with the European Central Bank which kept rates at 2 per cent on Thursday, and delivered a less hawkish than expected accompanying statement.
The following are Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm (Thursday)
NZ dlr US68.78c US69.20c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A93.10c A93.29c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5762 0.5735
NZ dlr/yen 80.84 80.89
NZ dlr/stg 38.90p 38.98p
NZ TWI 70.82 70.93
Australian dollar US73.85c US74.18c
Euro/US dollar US1.1935 US1.2068
US dollar/yen 117.55 116.86
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi falls beneath US69c
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