The New Zealand dollar once again prowled a narrow range today following a brief flurry of activity on comments by US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan overnight.
At 5pm in Wellington the kiwi was buying US71.45c, little changed from its US71.48c open this morning having ranged between US71.31c and US71.46c. It closed at US71.55c at 5pm yesterday.
All in all it was a quiet session an Auckland dealer said.
"It was busier earlier with Greenspan but it had all quietened down by the time we got in."
Mr Greenspan said US interest rates were "fairly low" and despite the US economy's good health, fiscal discipline was vital.
That saw the US dollar briefly rally but any gains were short lived.
Mr Greenspan is to answer further questions tonight about US monetary policy.
"Unless you get a wildly differing question from someone that gives us an interesting answer I'm not expecting any volatility," the dealer said.
Meanwhile, the aussie was at US78.448c at 5pm (US78.77c at 5pm yesterday), the euro was at US$1.3044 (US$1.3024), and the greenback was at 105.27 yen (104,34).
On the crosses the kiwi was buying A91.06 (A91.05c), 0.5479 euros (0.5494), 37.90 British pence (37.78), 75.22 yen (74.95), and 0.8481 Swiss francs (0.8518).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 968 (969), and the trade-weighted index was at 69.48 (69.49).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.86 per cent (6.86), July 2009 bonds were at 6.11 per cent (6.09), and April 2015s were at 5.95 per cent (5.93).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi remains caged in quiet trade
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