The New Zealand dollar came back into favour yesterday, topping US47c for the first time in a month.
By 5pm the kiwi had risen to US47.16c from Tuesday night's close of US46.72c, while the aussie was at US54.80c from US54.35c Tuesday.
"We had a range of US46.98c to US47.27c during the day," Westpac chief currency dealer Basil Payn said.
"Kiwi has basically been bid from about Tuesday morning really on US dollar weakness. We have seen the US dollar weaken against the yen and the euro, and the aussie and kiwi have both strengthened throughout the day.
"There's been continued offshore buying in the kiwi and a little bit of it is yield related now that the US market has calmed down a bit."
Mr Payn expected the kiwi to have a crack at the crucial US47.50c level overnight.
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi appreciated against all major currencies, to trade at A86.10c (A85.89c at Tuesday's close), 55.69 yen (55.68), 30.76 pence (30.57), 0.7043 Swiss francs (0.7020), and 0.4797 euro (0.4782).
The aussie was trading at $NZ1.1617 ($NZ1.1642).
On the money market, 90-day bills were at 5.90 per cent (5.91), the trade-weighted index was at 53.81 (53.56) and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 407 (minus 431).
On the debt market, the April 2004 bonds were at 5.73 per cent (5.76), the November 2006 bonds were at 6.11 per cent (6.16), and the November 2011 bonds were at 6.35 per cent (6.42).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Door opens for Kiwi to reach US47.50c
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