The New Zealand dollar continued edging higher yesterday, but its golden run may come to an end when the informal holiday period finishes next week. At 5pm the kiwi traded at US42.63c, up on Thursday's close of US42.31c, while the aussie gained a little ground to US51.55c from US51.52c Thursday night.
The kiwi maintained momentum as its helpmates, the aussie and euro, slowed. One local dealer said the kiwi's range had drifted higher - to US42.45/65c, from US42.15/50c Thursday - but the return to work of most market players next week is likely to hold the kiwi in check, preventing further big rises. Volume was good yesterday with most interest from offshore.``It's been relatively busy within that range and it tried each side a couple of different times, so we've seen a little bit of movement during the course of the day,'' the dealer said.``A little bit of kiwi/yen buying going on, a bit of kiwi/aussie buying going on, and (kiwi) generally hanging in there and washing within a relatively tight range.``(Overnight) we're still a bit dependent on the aussie and the euro, but I think down side seems to be limited to that US42.40c level, and with the top side I think we'll see US42.80c.``The rally certainly will be slowed next week,'' he said. Both the kiwi and aussie have enjoyed growing offshore demand on the back of the euro's popularity as the single currency left theoretical realms and entered circulation on January 1. The kiwi has risen nearly a US cent since New Year's Eve and the aussie has risen 47 points. Markets paid scant attention yesterday to a sharp rise in US weekly jobless claims and the European Central Bank's well-flagged decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.25 per cent. Overnight, Friday's December US employment report is expected to show a 0.1 per cent rise in the unemployment rate to 5.8 per cent and a loss of another 139,000 jobs.
The kiwi continued climbing against the aussie, trading at A82.66c at 5pm from A82.12c at yesterday's close and the aussie bought $NZ1.2098 ($NZ1.2177).On other crosses, the kiwi was buying 55.85 yen (55.79), 29.60 pence (29.26), 0.7007 Swiss francs (0.6951) and 0.4741 euro (0.4677). The trade weighted index was up at 51.37 (50.98), 90-day bank bills were steady at 4.89 per cent, and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 739 (minus 777). On the debt market the March 2002 bonds were steady at 4.75 per cent, the April 2004s were at 5.73 per cent (5.75), the November 2006s were 6.32 per cent (6.37), and the November 2011s were at 6.76 per cent (6.84).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi continues climbing as Aussie and Euro slow
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