5.30pm
The kiwi moved up slightly on quiet trading today.
At 5pm the New Zealand dollar was buying US63.34c (from US63.10c at 5pm yesterday), having traded between US63.08c and US63.46c.
Most of Europe was on holiday on Monday for the May Day break and the US was off for Memorial Day.
At 5pm the Australian dollar was trading at US71.61c compared with its US71.43c close yesterday.
Underneath the thin liquidity and light volumes, sentiment for the kiwi remained positive, Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said.
Two factors behind this were the weak US dollar, and the recent strength of the kiwi against all its crosses.
He said trading activity will pick up with the return of the London and New York markets, stretching the trading range. He picked a range of US62.30c to US64.05c, up until US non-farm payrolls are released on Friday night.
Mr Bayley said the payroll numbers are pivotal for the market.
"The interest rate market has priced in a (US) Federal Reserve hike at the end of the month...and hikes at pretty much every Fed meeting thereafter. So it really needs a good solid healthy payrolls number to validate that pricing," he said.
The US dollar was trading at 109.73 yen this afternoon, compared with 109.54 at 5pm yesterday, while the euro was buying US$1.2204 against US$1.2209.
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A88.44c (A88.36c), 0.5189 euros (0.5169), 34.53 British pence (34.39), 69.47 yen (69.13) and 0.7938 Swiss francs (0.7905).
The trade-weighted index was at 64.19 (63.94), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 483 (462).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.99 per cent (5.97 per cent yesterday at 5pm) and in the debt market, February 2006 bonds were at 5.90 per cent (5.88), July 2009s were at 6.11 per cent (6.09), and April 2013s were at 6.24 per cent (6.23).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi edges up in light trading
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