5.30pm
The New Zealand dollar eased slightly in local trade today following a big move higher over the weekend.
At 5pm the kiwi was buying US68.22c from US67.53c at 5pm on Friday having traded in a US68.22c to US68.51c range.
BNZ chief currency dealer Mike Symonds said the kiwi had seen a mixed session today. He said it opened on its highs following a strong performance by commodity currencies on the back of the poor US jobs data on Friday.
The kiwi gained the best part of a cent against the US currency on overseas markets on Friday after September US non farm payrolls data came in significantly lower than expected.
But the aussie enjoyed even more of a lift as it also benefited from positive sentiment in the wake of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's win in that country's general election.
The aussie was buying US73.30c (US72.69c at 5pm on Friday).
In the near term, Mr Symonds said despite the New Zealand dollar closing on its local session lows today, " further kiwi upside is certainly a risk given the moves we've seen in the US dollar on Friday night".
Meanwhile, the US dollar was buying 109.53 yen (110.85) and the euro was buying US$1.2397 (US$1.2312).
On the crosses the kiwi was fetching A93.09c (A92.98c), 38.06 British pence (37.89) 74.72 yen (74.88), 0.8537 Swiss francs (0.8523), and 0.5503 euros (0.5485).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index (TWI) was at 68.65 (68.38), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 897 (879).
In the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.76 per cent (6.77). On the bond market, February 2006s were at 6.22 per cent (6.24), July 2009s were at 6.10 per cent (6.14) and April 2013s were at 6.13 per cent (6.15).
- NZPA
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