The New Zealand dollar explored territory above the key US65c mark today, once again on United States dollar weakness, a broker said.
At 5pm, the kiwi was fetching US65.19c (from US64.82c at 5pm yesterday), while the Australian dollar was at US74.49c (US74.21c), its highest since June 1997.
The kiwi traded between US64.95c and US65.21c, the latter achieved during the first half of the domestic session.
A BNZ currency broker said the kiwi's fortunes were once again pinned to weakness in the greenback.
"It's not been a bad day for the kiwi, which has just been flirting with its highs on this bull run in the last quarter," he told NZPA.
"But it's all a case of US dollar weakness.
"The (US) dollar has been weak all year and it looks like it's going to close the year in a vulnerable state," he said.
Meanwhile, the euro reached a new lifetime high of US$1.2511 in daytime trading, continuing a rise fed by worries about the US budget and trade deficits.
At 5pm, the euro was at US$1.2494 (US$1.2448) and the greenback was buying 107.04 yen (107.03).
On the crosses, the New Zealand dollar was buying A87.52c (A87.36c), 0.5218 euro (0.5208), 69.72 yen (69.37), 36.76 pence (36.53), and 0.8147 Swiss francs (0.8122).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 489 (469), the trade-weighted index was at 65.08 (64.81), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.36 per cent (5.35).
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were at 5.15 per cent (5.14), February 2006s were at 5.61 per cent (5.60), and November 2011s were at 5.89 per cent (5.86).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Dollar explores territory above key US65c mark
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