The New Zealand dollar reached a two-week high to kick off the month and looked ready to remain at these levels during the weekend.
At 5pm the kiwi was at US42.21c, above Thursday night's close of US42.05c, while the Australian dollar rose to US51.78c (US51.66c).
The kiwi traded in a range of US42.11/32c, and was headed for a slightly wider range of US42.10/40c overnight.
"It's had a relatively good day," one local dealer said.
"We've seen a quick spike higher on stop-loss triggering, which has been the driving force of this last move, with a little bit of offshore buying as well in the high teens having supported it earlier on.
"The aussie obviously is relatively quiet but at the upper end of its recent range, so that's lending a bit of support to the kiwi," he said.
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi traded at A81.52c (A81.39c at Thursday's close), while the aussie was buying $NZ1.2266 ($NZ1.2286).
Against the other major currencies the kiwi was at 56.44 yen (56.31), 29.77 pence (29.63), 0.7167 Swiss francs (0.7175), and 0.4861 euro (0.4860).
The trade weighted index was at 51.47 (51.35), the monetary conditions index was at minus 716 (minus 732), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.02 per cent (4.97).
On the debt market, the March 2002 bonds were steady at 4.74 per cent, the April 2004 bonds were at 5.82 per cent (5.76), the November 2006s were at 6.39 per cent (6.33), and the November 2011s were at 6.63 per cent (6.58).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi remains solidly above US42c
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