The New Zealand dollar seesawed in local trading yesterday but dealers suggested it could possibly tilt towards US48c overnight.
At 5pm the kiwi was trading at US47.75c, right on its opening level and just shy of last night's close of US47.69c. The Australian dollar was US56.51c, s teadily improving on Wednesday's close of US56.29c.
Offshore interest overnight pushed the New Zealand dollar up to US47.80c which was not sustained during the day. The kiwi traded in a 33-point range, dipping on aussie weakness.
But ANZ Investment Bank chief forex dealer Murray Hindley said a strengthening euro could well push the kiwi up through the US48c barrier.
"We followed the aussie around, it's had a little bit of cross interest as well in the market place during the day but the way it's closing would suggest we could still continue higher."
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Stu Ritson said that a push through US48c "clears the way for a move towards US50c".
In offshore trade, the euro traded to 14-month highs to take out the significant US93.30c level on general US dollar weakness, and analysts were picking a possible rise to US94c.
The euro has gained nearly 10 per cent against the dollar since hitting its 2002 low of US85.60c in early February.
In New Zealand, the euro closed at US93.68c yesterday afternoon.
Some analysts said the euro's strong gains reflected a cooling attitude towards the greenback, rather than a clear endorsement of the euro.
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi traded at A84.46c (A84.73c at Wednesday night's close), 59.37 yen (59.44) 32.65 pence (32.73), 0.5098 euro (0.5138), and 0.7487 Swiss francs (0.7510).
The aussie was buying $NZ1.1834 ($NZ1.1796).
The monetary conditions index eased to minus 260 (minus 242), the trade-weighted index followed at 55.48 (55.63) and 90-day bank bills at 5.88 per cent (5.79).
On the debt market yields the April 2004 bond yields were at 6.09 per cent (6.12), the November 2006s at 6.58 per cent (6.65), and the November 2011s at 6.74 per cent (6.80).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi seesaws but could go higher
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