The New Zealand dollar ended yesterday in demand after getting a shot in the arm from its Australian counterpart on the back of good jobs data.
After failing to crack a technical barrier of US54.20c yesterday, the kiwi dollar closed just above it at US54.22c, compared with Wednesday's close of US54.02c.
The Australian dollar was also no slouch at US58.73c, although it finished up near Wednesday's close of US58.68c.
Dealers said the kiwi started the day quietly but the downside bias eased after "exceptionally positive" Australian jobs figures saw the aussie rally some 40 points against the greenback.
Australian employment jumped for the fourth straight month to a record high in December, although increased numbers of jobseekers pushed the unemployment rate up a notch to 6.2 per cent.
Here, the kiwi caught a ride up to around US54.32c before easing. The kiwi-aussie cross rate peaked at A92.55c before retreating to A92.33c (92.08c).
"There were some really good flows going both ways," a local dealer said. "There was quite a lot of local interest and we saw the Asians buying some as well."
She predicted the kiwi would trade between US54.10/35c last night.
Against its major trading partners at 5pm the kiwi was buying, 0.5141 euro (0.5118), 64.14 yen (63.85), 33.84 pence (33.64), and 0.7511 Swiss francs (0.7490).
The Australian dollar slipped to $1.0831 (1.0863).
The trade-weighted index was at 60.07 (59.83), 90-day bank bills were at 5.86 per cent (5.87), and the monetary conditions index was at plus 139 (plus 120).
On the debt market, the April 2004s were at 5.66 per cent (5.65), the November 2006s were at 5.85 per cent (5.83), the November 2011s were at 6.15 per cent (6.11), and the April 2013s were at 6.19 per cent (6.14).
- NZPA
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