The New Zealand dollar strode past the US49c level yesterday, outperforming the aussie.
At 5pm the kiwi traded at US49.15c compared with yesterday's close of US48.92c. The Australian dollar eased slightly to US56.94c (US56.99c).
One local dealer said the kiwi opened locally about US48.85c.
"Really it seems that we've had quite a bit of buying once we went through the US49c level.
"There seems to have been quite a few people who maybe have established shorts over the last few days who wanted to buy them back quite sharply, and there seem to have been quite a few buyers of kiwi against the aussie as well, all at the same time," the dealer said.
"We've seen a bit of a splurge going through on the top side. Aussie's been quite subdued -- that's had a relatively tight range in comparison, US57.82c to US57.09c.
"There have been a lot of genuine sellers in aussie and that's weighed on the market a bit. The aussie's got a lot more two-way interest, so when the market does move a little bit that can be absorbed."
He picked kiwi to trade between US48.95c and US49.40c overnight.
The terms of trade figures out this morning provoked little reaction today. Statistics New Zealand's March quarter terms of trade index rose by 1.5 per cent compared with the previous quarter, which bettered the average forecast of economists polled by Reuters who picked a 0.9 per cent fall.
A rising New Zealand dollar during the quarter improved import prices, while pulling back the returns for exports.
In offshore trade the euro powered to a five-month high on the yen and held firm near a 17-month high on the dollar on Wednesday as strong German economic data and struggling US shares induced broad-based euro buying.
At 5pm the euro was buying US94.72c, from US94.50c last night.
On the crosses the kiwi was buying A86.29c (A85.84c), 61.67 yen (60.93), 33.37 pence (33.44), 0.7646 Swiss francs (0.7612) and 0.5186 euros (0.5173).
Against the kiwi the aussie was buying $NZ1.15909 ($NZ1.1649).
On the money market 90-day bills were at 5.93 per cent (5.93), the trade-weighted index was steady at 56.99 and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 117 (minus 145).
The April 2004 bonds were at 6.06 per cent (6.09), the November 2006 bonds were at 6.45 per cent (6.51), and the November 2011 bonds were at 6.67 per cent (6.73).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi climbs above US49c, room to move higher
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