The New Zealand dollar has firmed against the greenback over the holiday period, albeit in thin trade.
At 5pm today the kiwi was at US71.81c, compared with US71.32c on Christmas Eve.
Many trading rooms are still thinly staffed for the holiday break.
The major mover this week has been the US dollar, which on Monday fell to historic lows against the euro, but which has since rebounded slightly on the back of positive data. Overnight the US Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 102.3 in December, higher than economists' expectations of a 94.6 reading and well above November's upwardly revised 92.6.
It was the highest reading in five months, and enough to stem the greenback's decline -- at least temporarily.
"This is a pretty big pop up, and the revision is quite positive as well," said Jason Bonanca, vice president of foreign exchange strategy at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York.
Volumes were low owing to a public holiday in London, the world's hub of currency trading, and trading desks across the globe are thinly staffed, meaning small orders have a disproportionately large impact on prices.
At 5pm today the euro was trading at US$1.3582, against US$1.3506 on the afternoon of December 24.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 103.47 yen, compared to 103.69.
Meanwhile the Australian dollar was trading at US77.77c (from US76.61c).
On the crosses at 5pm today the kiwi was at A92.36c (A93.12c), 0.5288 euro (0.5283), 37.27 British pence (37.14), 74.30 yen (73.92) and 0.8158 Swiss francs (0.8159).
The trade-weighted index was at 68.92 (68.77), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 915 (903).
There was no movement in the money markets. The 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 6.74 per cent, February 2006 bonds were at 6.39 per cent (6.35), July 2009s were at 6.05 per cent (6.01) and April 2013s were at 6.01 per cent (5.97).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi firms slightly against greenback over holiday period
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