The New Zealand dollar wafted higher in a quiet session today, ahead of a market holiday in the United States on Tuesday.
At 5pm the kiwi was buying US61.73c, up on Friday's close of US61.45c, while the aussie was also higher, at US71.09c (US70.72c).
The kiwi traded between US61.70/87c during the domestic session, a local dealer said. He picked the kiwi to trade in a slightly wider range of US61.40/85c overnight.
"It was a pretty quiet day. We've got a holiday in the United States this week so I think it's going to be a very quiet start to the week generally," he said.
The US marks Veterans' Day on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, the yen eased after a general election left Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in power with a reduced majority, clouding the outlook for Japan's foreign exchange policy.
The greenback rose following strong jobs data on Friday, but it was limited in part due to nervousness after a car bomb killed 17 people at a foreign housing compound in Riyadh on Sunday.
In Wellington at 5pm the euro eased to US$1.1524, compared with its close in New York at US$1.1543, while the US dollar strengthened to 109.48 yen (109.05 in New York on Friday).
Domestic data this week includes unemployment data tomorrow, and September quarter retail sales figures on Wednesday.
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A86.79c (A86.84c on Friday), 0.5356 euro (0.5381), 67.59 yen (67.72), 36.88 pence (36.88) and 0.8418 Swiss francs (0.8454).
The Australian dollar was at $1.1515 ($1.1507).
The trade weighted index was at 63.79 (63.75), the monetary conditions index was at plus 388 (384), and 90-day bank bills were unchanged at 5.33 per cent.
On the debt market, yields on April 2004 bonds were at 5.28 per cent (5.27), February 2006s were at 5.89 per cent (5.91), and November 2011s were unchanged at 6.22 per cent.
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi drifts higher in quiet session
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