The New Zealand dollar held firm against a strong US dollar today and gained on key crosses such as the euro and Australian dollar.
Against the US dollar it closed on its opening at US69.80c compared with its US69.67c close yesterday.
The NZ Institute of Economic Research's Quarterly Survey of Business Research showing improved confidence reinforced views that the the Reserve Bank will hike rates again this month. That has served to underpine the kiwi.
ANZ National senior dealer Mark Elliott said that when the kiwi was marked down during the session there was good buying out of Asia.
"It was reasonably well supported on the crosses," he said.
The kiwi's direction would be dominated by how the US dollar performed against other currencies, he added.
"If the euro continues to come under pressure, then the kiwi could come under pressure."
But he believed the New Zealand dollar would continue to firm against the Australian dollar, and was likely to knock on the dollar of $A92.5c to $A93c in the next day or two.
This was despite the Australian dollar firming almost half a cent against the greenback to $US75.75c from yesterday's close. The kiwi-aussie cross rate still gained -- to $A92.18c compared with $A91.95c yesterday.
Against the euro, the kiwi climbed close to a historic high of 0.5800 from its 0.5746 level yesterday.
The following are Reuters currency rates:
NZ dlr US69.80c US69.67c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A92.18c A91.95c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5800 0.5746
NZ dlr/yen 79.60 79.25
NZ dlr/stg 38.85p 39.59p
NZ TWI 70.96 70.73
Australian dollar US75.75c US75.77c
Euro/US dollar US1.2030 US1.2113
US dollar/yen 114.05 113.75
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> NZ dollar firm on key crosses
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