6.00pm
The New Zealand dollar today finished higher against the United States dollar in a quiet session ahead of the G7 meeting in Florida on Friday.
At 5pm, the kiwi was at US67.83c (from US67.47c at 5pm yesterday), having traded between US67.75c and US68.16c.
The Australian dollar also finished slightly higher, at US76.29c (US76.13c).
Westpac chief currency dealer Basil Payn said today's session was quiet following the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holding its official cash rate (OCR) at 5.25 per cent this morning.
"The kiwi and aussie came off a little bit after that and we had short squeeze overnight, which was probably some squaring up of short positions ahead of the RBA announcement today," he told NZPA.
"Since then the kiwi has found a pretty good base level around 67.75/80c level.
"But it has been a quiet day, we've been a bit sidelined by the (approaching Waitangi Day) public holiday on Friday and the G7 meeting at the weekend."
The kiwi had traded in a wide range ahead of the G7 meeting in Florida, but most of the expected volatility had occurred in the London and New York sessions, Mr Payn said.
Market watchers are expecting the G7 meeting will decide against acting to support the weak US dollar.
Coming up tomorrow are OCR calls by the European Central Bank and Bank of England on Thursday.
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying 0.5421 euro (0.5413), 71.49 yen (71.17), 36.97 British pence (37.00), and 0.8497 Swiss francs (0.8485).
On a trade weighted basis, the New Zealand dollar was at 67.06 (66.84).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 664 (648), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.61 per cent (5.60).
February 2006 bond yields were unchanged at 5.63 per cent (5.67), July 2009 bonds were at 5.86 per cent (5.91) and April 2013s were at 5.99 per cent (6.02).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi ends slightly firmer in quiet trading ahead of G7 meeting
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