NZPA - The New Zealand dollar took a breather today, consolidating above US43c after yesterday's action.
"It has been an average day really, with average flows," one local dealer said.
"The kiwi has traded in a fairly narrow 10 point range."
By 5pm the kiwi was at US43.23c from US43.03c at yesterday's close, having dipped as low as US42.85c overnight.
"(Kiwi) feels as like it has reached a bit of a base after coming off in the last couple of days. It got down to US42.85c overnight but then there was some reasonable buying out there," the dealer said.
"If anything tonight we might see it move a little bit higher again."
He picked the kiwi would range between US43.15c and US43.40c overnight, keeping a watchful eye on movements in the United States dollar.
The greenback rose to a three-week high against the yen this morning on the back of increasing speculation that Washington and Tokyo could agree to a co-ordinated intervention to help weaken the Japanese currency.
It was buying 121.17 yen by the close of local trade against 119.68 yen at yesterday's close.
International markets are now on the lookout to see if US payroll data, due out Friday night NZT, will match Tuesday's better-than-expected manufacturing data.
The aussie dollar remained stable after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided yesterday to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent. It was trading at US52.07c at the close of local trade from US51.87c late yesterday.
On the crosses the kiwi was buying A82.97c (A82.90c at yesterday's close), 0.4861 euros (0.4851), 52.07 yen (51.49), 29.67 pence (29.85), 0.9510 marks (0.9487), 0.7353 Swiss francs (0.7338).
The Australian dollar was buying around $NZ1.2054, slightly less than yesterday's close at $NZ1.2055.
The trade-weighted index was at 51.30 (51.05), 90-day bill yields were at 5.86 percent (5.87) and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 648 (minus 673).
Among the bonds the March 2002s were steady at 5.75 percent, the April 2004s were at 6.33 percent (6.31), the November 2006s were at 6.55 percent (6.53), and the November 2011s were at 6.70 percent (6.68).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi takes a breather
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