The New Zealand dollar closed higher today in a session which saw good volume and talk of a Japanese retail bond issue, a broker said.
At 5pm, the kiwi was fetching US61.87c (from US61.05c at 5pm yesterday), having traded in the narrow band of US61.66c to US61.95c.
The Australian dollar was at US70.75c (US69.95c).
Westpac chief currency dealer Basil Payn said trading today had been balanced and on good volume.
"We've seen the kiwi rally higher overnight with also the euro and the aussie," Mr Payn told NZPA today.
"There was some talk of further uridashi issuance out of Japan, so we've seen short term speculative buying of kiwi based on, maybe, some further buying out of Tokyo," he said.
Uridashis are bonds sold to Japanese retail investors but denominated in currencies other than yen.
Last night, the greenback's rise was the result of the market focusing on the impact of higher oil prices on the US economy.
Tomorrow, the Government issues its Budget 2004, while later in the week a raft of economic data is to released in the US.
Meanwhile, the greenback was buying 111.67 yen (113.07), and the euro was buying US$1.2096 (US$1.2019).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.45c (A87.29c), 34.17 British pence (34.07), 69.09 yen (69.05), 0.7874 Swiss francs (0.7807), and 0.5115 euros (0.5080).
The trade-weighted index was at 63.19 (62.78), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 404 (372).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 5.98 per cent, February 2006 bonds were at 5.91 per cent (5.94), July 2009s were at 6.11 per cent (6.13) and April 2013s were at 6.27 per cent (6.28).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Dollar closes higher on good volume
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