KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar rose today as it capitalised on gains made by its Australian counterpart during a fairly quiet session.
By 5pm, the kiwi was at US77.42c, up from US76.78c late yesterday afternoon. Against the Aussie, the kiwi rose to A87.54c from A87.17c, keeping pace with the Aussie's 40-point gain against the US dollar.
Westpac currency strategist Michael Gordon said Wall Street movements dictated early trading, with US stock indexes swinging around before ending up more than 1 per cent.
"Early on it (the kiwi) was briefly below US77c before bouncing back. Since then, not really a lot clearly driving it."
The kiwi appeared to be piggy backing off the Australian dollar, trundling up to US77.50c and eyeing the next key level of US77.90c which it has struggled to break through.
A smaller-than-expected Australian trade deficit today helped boost the Aussie, which had been capped for several days by rumours of investors defending options around US88.50c.
The Aussie rose through that level last night with little reaction, which gave the currency the all-clear to head higher, Mr Gordon said.
The domestic calendar is light for the rest of the week, ahead of next week's NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion on Tuesday and fourth quarter inflation data on Thursday.
The yen drifted against the US dollar today after sliding on Wall Street's late rally, which stirred a recovery in risk appetite and prompted investors to edge back into carry trades.
The US dollar held its overnight gains against the euro and sterling as market players awaited the results of policy meetings at the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the day.
Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US77.42 US76.78c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A87.54c A87.17c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5273 0.5217
NZ dlr/yen 84.97 83.73
NZ dlr/stg 39.53p 38.89p
NZ TWI 71.69 70.96
Australian dollar US88.45c US88.07c
Euro/US dollar 1.4685 1.4717
US dollar/yen 109.76 109.05
- NZPA