The New Zealand dollar took a breather today, trading a relatively narrow range more than half a cent below the post-float high it hit yesterday.
At 5pm in Wellington the kiwi was at US73.78c (from US74.29c at 5pm yesterday having traded between US73.56c and US73.93c.
Yesterday it hit a 22-1/2 year high of US74.49c after RBNZ governor Alan Bollard hiked New Zealand's key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 per cent, and issued a hawkish monetary policy statement.
ANZ Investment Bank chief forex dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi had "come back a little bit" and today's session was one of consolidation after yesterday's big moves.
However, the forex market was now looking to tonight's US trade data which would dictate both the greenback and kiwi's next moves.
At 5pm in Wellington, the greenback was at 104.15 yen (104.11 at 5pm yesterday), while the euro was buying $1.3426 ($1.3430). The aussie was trading at US78.97c (US79.67c).
On the kiwi-aussie cross, which also benefitted from yesterday's rate hike, the kiwi was at A93.45c (A93.23c).
On the other crosses the kiwi was at 0.5496 euro (0.5532), 38.35 British pence (38.54), 76.79 yen (77.29), and 0.8507 Swiss francs (0.8577).
The trade-weighted Index was at 70.91 (71.23), and the monetary conditions index was at plus 1087 (1110).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 7.04 per cent, July 2009 bonds were at 6.34 per cent (6.33), and April 2015s were at 6.20 per cent (6.19).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency</EM>: Kiwi takes breather after big moves
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