5:40pm
The New Zealand dollar continued its rise, finishing today's local session at another fresh 6-year closing high.
By the 5pm local close the kiwi was at US63.07c from US62.82c at 5pm last night, its highest level since October 1997, having traded between US62.87c and US63.18c. The Australian dollar was at US72.14c (US71.87c).
A Wellington dealer said the kiwi had pushed to US63.18c early in the session before settling back into a narrow range.
The kiwi's upward movement was powered by the euro and the aussie, both of which were well bid today.
At present support for the kiwi was around US62.70c and resistance was at US63.20c.
The dealer said the kiwi was well poised for a push higher tonight but US data due this evening would be the determining factor.
"If it's some US positive data you may see everything flatten out a bit and give up some of the gains against the US dollar."
He expected a range tonight of US62.80c to US63.25c.
Meanwhile, the greenback was buying 108.00 yen (108.40), while the euro was buying US$1.1788 (US$1.1650).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.43c (A87.41c), 68.14 yen (68.15), 37.32 pence (37.50), 0.5353 euro (0.5396), and 0.8491 Swiss francs (0.8480).
The Australian dollar was at $1.1440 ($1.1433).
The trade weighted index was at 64.47 (64.53), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 448 (454), and 90-day bank bills were unchanged at 5.42 per cent.
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were unchanged at 5.31 per cent, February 2006s were at 5.80 per cent (5.86), and November 2011s were at 6.20 per cent (6.24).
- NZPA
<I>Currency:</I> Kiwi maintains upward momentum
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