The New Zealand dollar finished slightly higher today as the market looks toward the Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement on Thursday, a broker said.
At 5pm, the kiwi was at US63.88c (from US$63.59c at the same time last night), having traded between US63.52c and US63.92c.
The Australian dollar was at US71.16c (US71.26c)
Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said today's session was quiet and featured little liquidity.
"The small rise we've seen in the kiwi appears to be the result of persistent but modest bidding interest from Asian banks... and a disinterested local market," Mr Bayley told NZPA today.
"Really, this week is going to be about the official cash rate."
The market has been picking Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard to lift the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 6.0 per cent and that has already been factored into its forecasts.
However, the nature of his accompanying monetary policy statement was as yet unknown.
"This is a market that has no real consensus on what's happening in September (with the benchmark rate), so the statement is going to be really important," Mr Bayley said.
He expected a hawkish comment from Dr Bollard.
A raft of United States data out this week could also influence the kiwi's trend, Mr Bayley said.
Meanwhile, the euro was buying US$1.2140 (US$1.2137). The greenback was buying 109.90 yen (109.57).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A89.77c (A89.90c), 34.67 British pence (34.88), 0.5262 euro (0.5278), 70.18 yen (70.19), and 0.8075 Swiss francs (0.8092).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 568 (553), while the trade-weighted index was at 64.86 (65.00).
On the money and debt markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.31 per cent (6.30), February 2006 bonds were at 6.01 per cent (5.99), July 2009s were at 6.06 per cent (6.02), and April 2013s were at 6.15 per cent (6.11).
-NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Dollar higher as market looks ahead to OCR
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