The New Zealand dollar closed lower today riding on the coat-tails of its Australian counterpart which weakened on commentary from that country's central bank.
At 5pm in Wellington the kiwi was buying US62.69c from US63.46c at 5pm yesterday and US63.05c at 8.30am today. It traded in a US62.65c to US63.18c range.
The aussie was US71.86c from US73.09c yesterday evening and US72.24c this morning.
ANZ Investment Bank senior dealer Brad Martin said it had been a relatively quiet day until the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a statement shedding light on its decision earlier this week to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent.
"The RBA minutes were quite dove-ish in terms of interest rates and so the aussie got butchered really. The aussie came off over 60 points -- over half a cent."
While kiwi fared better, it followed in the aussie's footsteps, Mr Martin said.
The kiwi-aussie cross also went higher as a result and at 5pm the kiwi was buying A87.24c from A86.83c at the same time yesterday.
Tonight US non-farm payrolls data would likely decide the kiwi's direction in the short term.
"The market' expecting a good number," Mr Martin said.
However, "The last couple of (US non-farm payrolls) numbers have been volatile so it's got the potential to throw these currencies around a bit".
Back in Wellington at 5pm the greenback was buying 110.41 yen (108.87 at 5pm yesterday), and the euro was buying US$1.2078 (US$1.2147).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying 35.02 British pence (35.40), 69.21 yen (69.10), 0.8065 Swiss francs (0.8100), and 0.5202 euro (0.5224).
The trade-weighted index was at 63.85 (64.14), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 442 (465).
On the debt market, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 5.83 per cent.
The February 2006 yields were at 5.74 per cent (5.76), July 2009s were unchanged at 6.04 per cent and April 2013s were at 6.19 per cent (6.20).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi dragged lower by Aussie
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