The buoyant New Zealand dollar ticked over quietly today, after rallying to fresh 3-1/2 year highs over the weekend against a slumping greenback.
By 5pm the kiwi was at US53.88c, half a US cent higher than Friday's close of US53.25c and its highest level since June 1995. Its Australian cousin closed at US58.33c (US57.63c).
Dealers reported that the kiwi dollar had moved little during the day, but was staging a late afternoon surge towards the US54c level.
Volumes were positive with hopes it would push higher over the next couple of days.
"The story is consolidation rather than pushing higher," said one dealer. The kiwi was picked to trade between US53.60 and US54.05 overnight.
Offshore, the greenback floundered on a bleak December US employment report which sent its to its lowest level in three years against the euro on Friday night.
The US Labour Department reported that the non-farm sector shed 101,000 jobs, much more than economists expected and illustrating a continued weakness in the economy. Despite the steep fall in payrolls, the unemployment rate remained at 6.0 per cent.
This evening in Wellington the US dollar was worth 119.19 yen. The euro was trading at $US1.0566.
Against its major trading partners, the kiwi was buying A92.38c (A92.40c), 0.5100 euro (0.5069), 64.22 yen (63.84), 33.51 pence (33.15), and 0.7442 Swiss francs (0.7395).
The Australian dollar was at $NZ1.0825 ($NZ1.0820).
The trade-weighted index was at 59.81 (59.37), 90-day bank bills were at 5.90 per cent (5.93), and the monetary conditions index was at plus 121 (plus 87).
On the debt market, the April 2004s were at 5.71 per cent (5.75), the November 2006s were at 5.91 per cent (5.94), the November 2011s were at 6.19 per cent (6.19), and the April 2013s were at 6.23 per cent (6.22).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi ticks over quietly, looks to crack US54c
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