6.20pm
The New Zealand dollar bobbed back above US60c today against a greenback dragged down by the release of weaker then expected US economic data on Friday night.
At 5pm today the kiwi was fetching US60.60c (from US59.85c at 5pm on Friday) having ranged between US60.25c and US60.67c during the day.
The Australian dollar was buying US69.42c (U68.63c). BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said the theme of today's trading was a weak US dollar.
The US dollar faltered on Friday after the release of weaker than expected US consumer price index data appeared to cool market expectations surrounding US interest rate hikes and triggered an unwinding of bullish dollar positions.
Ms Trinh said both the euro and the kiwi picked up steam in today's trading, particularly in Japan's afternoon session.
" The likes of the euro, the aussie and the kiwi are all quite oversold against the US dollar so when you get such a kind of positional skew you should see a little bit of a correction the other way," Ms Trinh said.
But she does not expect a major recovery or rally in these currencies, as despite Friday's slip the US dollar's outlook seems to be picking up some momentum on the back of "very stuttered" expectations of a rate increase by the US Federal Reserve.
Looking at the next month Ms Trinh said she could not rule out an even deeper retracement for the kiwi than has been seen recently, with the kiwi possibly slipping to US59c. Ms Trinh said if the kiwi breaks this mark it could fall as far as US56.50c.
Meanwhile, at 5pm in Wellington, the greenback was buying 113.72 yen (114.66), and the euro was buying US$1.1962 (US$1.1813).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.32c (A87.21c), 34.32 British pence (34.02), 68.92 yen (68.63), 0.7795 Swiss francs (0.7795), and unchanged at 0.5066 euros.
The trade-weighted index was at 62.59 (62.23), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 353 (322).
On the debt market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.95 per cent (5.88).
The February 2006 yields were at 5.92 per cent (5.97), July 2009s were at 6.14 per cent (6.22), and April 2013s were at 6.29 per cent (6.38).
- NZPA
<I>Currency:</I> Kiwi consolidates back over US60c
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