The New Zealand dollar softened in steady trading today after spurting up overnight mostly on a weaker United States dollar.
It traded as high as US71.40c in the morning but finished at US71.08c, still well above its US70.87c close yesterday.
ANZ Investment Bank chief dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi was largely in the hands of the US investment and immediate direction would depend on the strength of US jobs and housing data.
Comments yesterday from the Finance Minister backing the Reserve Bank's hawkish monetary policy, also bolstered the kiwi.
Mr Hindley said a number of Asian based players took the opportunity to sell the kiwi on the crosses.
The US dollar softened broadly after data on capital flowing into the United States in April came in below expectations and too low to finance the trade deficit for that month.
On its crosses, the kiwi finished at 39.10 British pence from the 7-1/2 year high of 39.22 pence it hit yesterday at 5pm, 0.5888 euro (0.5887 yesterday), A92.70c (A92.87c), 77.71 yen (77.42) and 0.9057 Swiss francs (0.9045).
The euro was at US$1.2075 (US$1.2037), the greenback was at 109.33 yen (109.25) and the aussie was at US76.70c (US76.31c).
The trade-weighted index was at 71.45 (71.35), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 1127 (1119).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 7.06 per cent (7.05), July 2009s were at 5.95 per cent (5.94), and April 2015s were at 5.82 per cent (5.81).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi softens but holds above US71c
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