The New Zealand dollar kept its head well above US70c today, but drifted down from the highs it hit after the overnight announcement of a wider than expected US trade deficit.
The kiwi ended today at US70.59c, from US69.63c at 5pm yesterday, down from a session high of US70.80c early this morning.
BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said the kiwi's drift lower throughout the day was to be expected after its big spike.
The US Commerce Department reported that the shortfall between what the United States sells abroad and what it imports increased 7.7 per cent from the previous record - the October deficit of US$56 billion. The US trade deficit hit an all-time high of US$60.3 billion ($86 billion) in November
At 5pm the Australian dollar was up at US76.57c (from US76.01c at 5pm yesterday).
Meanwhile the US dollar was buying 102.57 yen from 103.47 yen at yesterday's local close, while the euro was at US$1.3254 (US$1.3113).
Ms Trinh said there was strong interest in the kiwi/aussie cross today after data showed Australia's unemployment level fell to 5.1 per cent in December, its lowest level since the mid-1970s. At 5pm the kiwi was buying A92.04c, from A92.22c at 8am today and A91.58c at 5pm yesterday.
On the other crosses kiwi was buying 0.5319 euro (0.5310), 37.30 British pence (37.10), 72.29 yen (72.03), and 0.8231 Swiss francs (0.8233).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index was at 68.25 (67.82), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 866 (835).
There was little movement on the money markets, with 90-day bank bill yields unchanged at 6.74 per cent, November 2006 bond yields unmoved at 6.15 per cent. July 2009s were at 5.97 per cent (5.99) and April 2015s were at 5.90 per cent (5.94).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi up as Greenback falters on weak data
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