6.30pm
The kiwi continued to tread water today as it waits on directional cues from both offshore and domestic data later this week.
At 5pm the kiwi was at US66.04c, from US66.02c at 5pm Friday, having ranged between US65.80c and US66.25c during today's local session.
The Australian dollar closed at US69.93c (US69.83c).
Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said the market was waiting on the US Federal Reserve's interest rate call on Wednesday morning (NZT), which was expected to take that country's benchmark rate up 25 basis points to 1.75 per cent.
Mr Bayley said the market has only priced in two hikes in US rates for the remainder of the year, including Wednesday. "But we think they will go at every meeting -- we think they have been pretty clear about that."
He said the Fed was likely to reiterate its stance on Wednesday, leading to the market pricing in more tightening risk than it has at the moment, which will be supportive for the greenback.
Meanwhile the kiwi is also likely to gain some direction from the release of New Zealand's balance of payments data on Thursday and second quarter gross domestic product figures on Friday.
At 5pm today, the euro was at US$1.2170 (US$1.2189), and the US dollar was buying 110.06 yen (109.58).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index was at 67.38 (67.29), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 796 (790).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A94.44 (A94.57c), 0.5227 euro (0.5416), 36.89 British pence (36.81), 72.69 yen (72.34), and 0.8393 Swiss francs (0.8376).
In the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 6.68 per cent. On the bond market, February 2006s were at 6.35 per cent (6.32), July 2009s were at 6.20 per cent (6.18), and April 2013s were at 6.17 per cent (6.14).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi continues to tread water
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