The New Zealand dollar was weighed down yesterday by a heavy aussie dollar and news of a big drop in key commodity prices.
Thin trading in the kiwi saw it close at US41.34 compared with Monday night's close of US41.67c.
A softening aussie dropped 15 points from yesterday's opening to close at US51.65c (US52.12c Monday).
One broker said the kiwi and aussie had fallen through technical barriers, prompting some extra selling.
The kiwi "should have held US41.80/90c overnight and the fact that it's broken down, is basically not too good for its medium-term outlook".
It was picked to trade overnight between US41.10/40c.
Another factor bogging down the kiwi was the ANZ November Commodity Price Index, which showed weakening world growth and overseas regulatory changes had caused the biggest fall in export commodity prices for more than a decade.
The index fell by 4 per cent during the month - its largest monthly decline since October 1990 - and has returned to levels prevailing at this time last year.
The decrease was inflated by a slightly stronger kiwi dollar . One local dealer said that today's figures were significant.
"It's a big number - the biggest in 10 years, that's noteworthy.
The greenback gained against the yen after receiving manufacturing data which, while it continued to contract, was not as sharp as expected.
At 5pm it was buying 124.11 yen (123.70 yesterday), but slumped against the euro at US89.06c (US89.47c)
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A80.04c (A79.93c at Monday's close), 51.30 yen (51.57), 29.06 pence (29.30), 0.9079 marks (0.9112), 0.6845 Swiss francs (0.6853) and 46.42 euros (46.59).
The Australian dollar was buying $NZ1.2495 from $NZ1.2517.
The trade-weighted index was at 49.44 (49.68), the 90-day bank bills were at 4.86 per cent (4.85) and the monetary conditions index eased to minus 934 (minus 910).
On the debt market, the March 2002 bonds were at 4.73 per cent (4.73), the April 2004s were at 5.36 per cent (5.36), the November 2006s were at 5.93 per cent (5.93) and the November 2011s were at 6.37 per cent (6.40).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi weighed down by heavy Aussie
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