The New Zealand dollar backed away from US70c today against a resurgent US dollar.
The kiwi hit an overnight high of US69.97c, but fell to US69.43c by today's close. It ended yesterday at US69.76c.
The US dollar rebounded after the US trade gap narrowed in November, easing concerns about the flow of capital abroad, traders said.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate steady at 2.25 percent, as expected. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said risks to euro zone growth persisted and the bank was ready to raise interest rates at any time. But his comments were not seen as hawkish enough to boost the euro.
Dealers said the two events had helped put the brakes on a wave of dollar selling that had dragged the currency down in January after its first gain in four years against major currencies in 2005, driven by steady rises in US interest rates.
``Some of the dollar bulls are back out today, albeit a little cautiously, given that we have another important batch of US data coming up later in the session,'' said Nobuaki Kubo, a senior trader at Resona Bank.
The kiwi firmed a little against the Australian dollar -- buying A92.54c against A92.37c yesterday -- as the aussie fell against the greenback to US75.09c from US75.54c.
Local building data today was mixed and did nothing to clarify the picture of whether the Reserve Bank has ended its tightening phase. The number of building consents were up but the overall trend remained down.
The market has NZIER's quarterly survey of business opinion on Tuesday, followed the next day by the consumer price index, to focus on.
The following are Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm Thursday
NZ dlr/US dlr US69.43 US69.76
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A92.54 A92.37
NZ dlr/euro 0.5769 0.5745
NZ dlr/yen 79.60 79.62
NZ dlr/stg 39.46 39.50
NZ TWI 70.86 70.86
Australian dollar US75.09 US75.54
Euro/US dollar US1.2041 US1.2143
US dollar/yen 114.54 114.12
<EM>Currency:</EM> NZ dollar backs away from US70c
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