May Day provided a breather for the New Zealand dollar, which was little changed by the close of local business today.
At 5pm the kiwi was buying US56.14c, compared with US56.09c at 9am but up from US56.00c at 5pm yesterday. The aussie was at US62.65c, compared with US62.31c at yesterday's local close.
The aussie's high during the day of US62.75c was a fresh 26-month level.
One local dealer said the kiwi traded between US56.10/24c today, and was still relatively well bid. However, the kiwi was still weaker against the Australian dollar.
"Kiwi/aussie headed lower, it didn't bounce on the day and it's looking a bit vulnerable," he said. "The kiwi was overvalued on the cross, it's playing a bit of catch-up."
Against the aussie the kiwi was at A89.62c (A89.88c) and the aussie was buying $NZ1.1149 ($NZ1.1126).
He picked the kiwi to trade between US56.00/30c overnight, as it continued to be underpinned by US dollar weakness.
In Asian trade today, the euro held near four-year highs against the US dollar and the yen as the murky US economic outlook remained unchanged.
US economic indicators were mixed, and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan indicated interest rates could ease further in the next few months, if not at its next meeting on Tuesday.
The euro was unchanged at $US1.1110 tonight in Wellington, while the US dollar eased to buy 118.78 yen (119.61 yen).
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was buying 66.68 yen (66.97 yen at 5pm yesterday), 35.08 pence (35.11), 0.7608 Swiss francs (0.7622), and 0.5019 euros (0.5042).
The monetary conditions index was at 158 (170), the trade-weighted index was at 60.75 (60.85) and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.48 per cent (5.52).
The February 2005 yields were at 5.13 per cent (5.19), the November 2006s were at 5.32 per cent (5.39), and the November 2011s were at 5.78 per cent (5.84).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi unmoved in May Day traffic
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