The New Zealand dollar continued its ascent towards US41c yesterday, but remained pinned back by its moribund Australian counterpart.
At 5pm, the kiwi was trading at US40.58c, beneath an intraday high of US40.80c, but above Tuesday's US40.46c close.
"The aussie-US remains capped around US49.40c which is really holding back the potential gains of the kiwi," a local currency dealer said.
The Australian dollar ended locally at US49.32c (US49.37c at Tuesday's close).
"Despite that, the mood in the market towards the New Zealand dollar is reasonably positive at the moment. There are a few buyers around."
The kiwi hit a high of US40.95c in New York overnight after a report by the Conference Board showed US confidence suffered its worst fall in 11 years in September following the terrorist attacks on US landmarks.
That winning streak was likely to continue overnight .
"The outlook for the kiwi is probably to pressure the US41c level in the next few days," the dealer said.
The kiwi was tipped to trade between US40.40c and US41c overnight, although it would likely run into resistance around the US40.80c level.
"Resistance levels are up around US40.80c in the kiwi at the moment. It is running into a few offers in the market up around there."
By 5pm the kiwi had gained half a cent against the aussie at A82.54c (A82c at yesterday's close), while the Australian dollar was buying $NZ1.2139 ($NZ1.2204).
On the other crosses the local unit was trading at 47.60 yen (47.43), 27.59 pence (27.64), 0.8599 marks (0.8641), 0.6446 Swiss francs (0.6471) and 0.4395 euros (0.4418).
The trade-weighted index was at 47.89 (47.84), 90-day bill yields were at 5.31 per cent (5.34) and the monetary conditions index was at minus 1047 (minus 1050).
Among the bonds, the March 2002s were at 5.13 per cent (5.16), the April 2004s were at 5.52 per cent (5.60), the November 2006s were at 6.12 per cent (6.21), and the November 2011s were at 6.60 per cent (6.68).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi set to tackle 41c
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.