Trade in the New Zealand dollar was quiet today as the market adopted a wait and see stance in advance of key United States data later in the week.
At the 5pm local close in Wellington the kiwi was at US64.13c from US64.07c at 5pm on Friday having traded in a tight US64.07c to US64.17c range. Its Australian counterpart was at US72.33c from US72.18c on Friday.
Today's restrained trade was in contrast to last week's run of 6-year-highs as the kiwi raced from US63c a week ago to a high of US64.68c early on Friday morning.
"It's been very, very quiet", ANZ Investment Bank dealer Glenn Mackersy told NZPA. "It's a holiday in Tokyo today, that's taken a few players out of the market."
However key US data later in the week including third quarter GDP, consumer confidence and manufacturing indicators "should be quite interesting" and provide some direction Mr Mackersy said. But the market was likely to sit on its hands until then.
Furthermore, some of last week's brisk trade in the kiwi "might unwind as the market cools down a little".
While the kiwi today remained perched above the key US63.80c level which was seen as an area of strong resistance before its surge last week, "a close below there may just mean that the kiwi's just not ready to make that extra push higher to US65c - US66c.
"But if it can manage to keep its head above that mark then it's probably going to be a consolidation period before we have another move higher," said Mr Mackersy, who picked an overnight range of US63.85c to US64.25c.
Meanwhile, the euro was at US$1.1909 at 5pm in Wellington (US$1.1894 at 5pm on Friday), while the greenback was buying 108.90 yen (109.17).
Against the aussie the kiwi was at A88.67c (A88.77c).
On other crosses the kiwi was buying 69.84 yen (69.95), 37.61 pence (37.66), 0.5386 euro (0.5387), and 0.8333 Swiss francs (0.8334).
The Australian dollar was buying $1.1278 ($1.1265).
The trade weighted index was at 65.43 (65.45), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 519 (522), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.38 per cent (5.40).
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were unchanged at 5.28 per cent, February 2006s were at 5.74 per cent (5.73), and November 2011s were unchanged at 6.14 per cent.
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi retains perch above key support
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