The New Zealand dollar turned in a mixed performance today after riding out the ripples caused by the Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement.
At 5pm, the kiwi was at US63.02c (from US63.09c at the same time yesterday), having ranged between US62.80c and US63.29c.
The kiwi opened on its lows and pushed higher after RBNZ governor Alan Bollard lifted the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 6.0 per cent at 9am this morning.
Dr Bollard's hawkish statement flagged another hike at the bank's next review on September 9.
"It appears that current economic strength may be maintained for longer than we anticipated in June and it could add to price pressures," Dr Bollard said.
"Further tightening of monetary policy looks likely to be necessary."
BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said the kiwi had held up well given Dr Bollard's statement.
"The kiwi rallied up about 30 or 40 points on the back of that statement, but stabilised close to where it opened this morning," she told NZPA today.
"It (the kiwi) is particularly higher against the Australian dollar by some 40-odd points."
At 5pm, the kiwi was buying A90.26c (A89.89c).
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was at US69.81c (US70.18c), while the euro was at US$1.2052 (US$1.2073).
The greenback was at 111.75 yen (111.09).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying 34.57 British pence (34.57), 0.5229 euro (0.5226), 70.43 yen (70.06), and 0.8047 Swiss francs (0.8039).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 545 (538), while the trade-weighted index was at 64.54 (64.48).
On the money and debt markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.33 per cent (6.30), February 2006 bonds were at 6.11 per cent (6.03), July 2009s were at 6.19 per cent (6.13), and April 2013s were at 6.30 per cent (6.24).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Dollar turns in mixed performance
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