The New Zealand dollar lost some of its oomph yesterday but remained firmly within its new range.
At 5pm, the kiwi had eased to US47.87c compared with its US48.04c close yesterday, while the aussie was at US54.80c, up from its US54.69c close here yesterday.
ANZ Investment Bank dealer Mark Elliott said the kiwi had opened around its high of US48.08c and drifted off during the day to its close.
"A bit of selling of kiwi against the aussie, nothing large, it just drifted aimlessly lower," Mr Elliott said.
"I would suspect a range over the next day or two with good support around US47.65/75c area, and resistance around the US48.10/20c.
"It could do that whole range tonight or it could just do part of it."
There was little data out today to provide direction for the kiwi.
"There was the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (survey), but there's just no interest in that," Mr Elliott said.
The institute's surprisingly optimistic September quarter survey of business confidence today caught market observers on the back foot.
Analysts had been expecting confidence to slide lower, and while in actual terms there was a slight deterioration, on a seasonally-adjusted basis a net 18 per cent of firms reported a positive outlook compared with a net 8 per cent previously.
In offshore trade, the US dollar regained some ground in Asia but it did not get far as a result of major US stock indices hitting multi-year lows on Wednesday.
In Wellington, the US dollar bought 123.63 yen, down slightly from yesterday's 124.10 yen, while the aussie was at US98.90c from US97.94c.
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was buying A87.36c compared with A87.82c at yesterday's close, 0.4841 euro (0.4903), 59.19 yen (59.61), 0.3059 pence (0.3090) and 0.7084 Swiss francs (0.7191).
The aussie was buying $1.1447 ($1.1390).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index fell to 54.99 (55.36 yesterday). The 90-day bill yield was at 5.87 per cent (5.88) and the monetary conditions index eased to minus 301 from minus 267.
In the bond market, the April 2004 bond yield was at 5.56 per cent (5.59 per cent), the November 2006 yield was at 5.88 per cent (5.92 per cent) and the November 2011 bond yield was at 6.13 per cent (6.18 per cent).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi eases but stays in new range
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