The New Zealand dollar continued to travel along a path of consolidation yesterday, hovering under the US41c level for much of the day.
At 5pm the kiwi traded at US40.88c, not far from last night's US40.84c close and ignoring a healthy 173 point rise on the Dow.
One dealer described it as one of the most "lethargic" days he'd seen for a long time.
"There's no real serious news...both these currencies (kiwi and aussie) have been sold off over the last two weeks. We're going to have a considerable period of consolidation, I think you'll probably find."
The Australian dollar too was having a lazy day, in spite of a 25 basis point interest rate cut on Wednesday. It closed at US49.90c, up slightly on yesterday's US49.78c close).
New Zealand's lack of interest over Wall St's rise was unsurprising, said the dealer.
"Our market (didn't) react as much on the downside as what Wall St did and now Wall St's turned, we're not doing a lot. Wall St's playing its own game and recovering its own right."
He picked the kiwi to travel between US40.60c and US41.20c overnight.
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was buying A81.97 (A82.02c at yesterday's close) and had a mixed day against other currencies, trading at 49.31 yen (49.30), 27.75 pence (27.78), 0.8748 marks (0.8669), 0.6631 Swiss francs (0.6601) and 0.4473 euros (0.4432).
On the aussie-kiwi cross, the Australian dollar gathered strength to trade at $NZ1.2204 ($NZ1.2195).
The trade-weighted index rose to 48.52 (48.40), while the 90-day bill yields stayed steady at 5.28 percent. The monetary conditions index tightened to minus 985 (minus 999).
Among the bonds, the March 2002s were steady at 5.10 percent (5.10), the April 2004s were up at 5.44 per cent (5.41), the November 2006s rose to 5.99 per cent (5.95), and the November 2011s were up at 6.42 per cent (6.37).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi continues to consolidate
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.