The New Zealand dollar continued to rise against the aussie today, but faltered slightly against the greenback.
Westpac currency dealer Basil Payn said the aussie dollar "came off quite aggressively" against the greenback, which dragged the kiwi down slightly against the US dollar as well.
At 5pm today the kiwi was at US71.27c, from US71.63c at 5pm yesterday, having ranged between US71.22c and US71.65c during the local session.
The kiwi was at A91.85c (from A91.21c at 5pm yesterday), having hit a session high of A92.04c earlier in the day.
The Australian dollar took a dive on the back of more disappointing economic data out today. Economists said today the Australian central bank was likely to leave interest rates on hold for now, as housing data and retail sales in October showed a slowdown.
Australia's building approvals fell 2.4 per cent in October, seasonally adjusted, to their lowest level since June 2001, while Australia's national retail trade at current prices fell 0.7 per cent in October, to a seasonally adjusted A$16.538 billion ($18.32 billion).
This news came on the back of yesterday's worse than expected current account data, which showed a record quarterly deficit of A$13.69 billion ($15.25 billion), seasonally adjusted, from A$11.76 billion in the second quarter. The deficit equalled 6.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
On the domestic data front today, figures showed consents for new dwelling units rose 11.2 per cent in October compared to the previous month, driven by a surge in new apartments.
On its other major crosses at 5pm the kiwi was at 0.5380 euro (0.5406), 37.73 British pence (37.90), 73.52 yen (73.70) and 0.8148 Swiss francs (0.8190).
Meanwhile, at 5pm in Wellington the aussie was at US77.64c (US78.55c), the euro was at US$1.3256 (US$1.3252), while the greenback was buying 103.17 yen (102.93).
The trade-weighted index was at 68.91 (69.08), and the monetary conditions index was at plus 909 (923).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.69 per cent (6.70 per cent).
February 2006 bond yields were static at 6.20 per cent, July 2009s were at 5.94 per cent (5.96), and April 2013s were at 5.94 per cent (5.95).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi up against aussie, softens against Greenback
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