5.22pm
The kiwi softened against the greenback, but continued to trade in a tight range today, a Wellington dealer said.
At 5pm in Wellington, the kiwi was buying US69.21c from US69.48c at 5pm last night, having traded between US69.05c and US69.20c during the day.
The greenback strengthened overnight, taking a breather from recent heavy selling after the European Central Bank chief warned against the euro's rapid climb and ahead of a decision on US interest rates.
The US Federal Reserve is due to meet on Thursday morning NZT and is widely tipped to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 2 per cent. The market will look to the accompanying statement for an idea of the pace of future rate rises.
At 5pm today the euro was buying US$1.2925 (from US$1.2972 at 5pm yesterday), the Australian dollar was buying US75.72c (US$76.16c) and the greenback was buying 105.56 yen (105.39 yen).
A Wellington dealer said the kiwi had been losing ground against the European crosses and was looking a bit heavy.
On the crosses the kiwi was buying A91.40c (A91.23c), 0.5355 euro (0.5356), 37.31 British pence (37.46), 73.06 yen (73.23) and 0.8177 Swiss francs (0.8189).
The NZ dollar trade-weighted index was at 67.97 (68.09) and the monetary conditions index was at plus 846 (855).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.74 per cent (6.75).
February 2006 bond yields were unchanged at 6.25 per cent, July 2009s were unchanged at 6.06 per cent and April 2013s were at 6.10 per cent (6.11).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi softens against stronger greenback
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