5.40pm
The New Zealand dollar spent the day lurking about the US64.50c mark after being dampened when the Reserve Bank (RB) kept the official cash rate (OCR) at 5.0 per cent.
At 5pm, the kiwi was fetching US64.49c (from US64.70c at market's close last night), having opened the local session at US64.95c.
Overnight last night the kiwi hit a new six-year high of US65.10c.
The Australian dollar was at US73.58c (US73.32c) after also testing new six-year highs last night.
This morning RB governor Alan Bollard kept the OCR at 5.0 per cent, shrugging off the temptation to lift it 25 basis points and surprising some market watchers.
Dr Bollard was faced with trying to dampen the booming domestic economy, and the housing market in particular, or help the export sector, which is hard-pressed by the soaring exchange rate.
However, he said an OCR rise was on the cards in the New Year.
Immediately after Dr Bollard's monetary policy statement in Wellington the kiwi dipped more than a quarter of a US cent to the US64.50c region, later hitting a session low of US64.45c.
A trading bank currency broker said the kiwi had been under pressure since the OCR announcement.
"That's what's been driving the day," he told NZPA today.
"Possibly tonight you are going to see further pressure on the kiwi, especially against the aussie," the dealer said.
"That cross (the kiwi-aussie) will be the one to watch over the next 24 hours," he said, adding the Reserve Bank of Australia's OCR hike to 5.25 per cent yesterday made the kiwi less attractive to some investors.
"As for the kiwi-United States dollar cross, who knows? The trend still seems to be a negative US dollar and positive everything else."
Meanwhile, the greenback was buying 108.22 yen (108.77) and the euro was buying US$1.2064 (US$1.2085).
On other crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.65c (A88.36c), 0.5346 euro (0.5354), 69.79 yen (70.30), 37.42 pence (37.42), and 0.8329 Swiss francs (0.8332).
The trade weighted index was at 62.28 (65.58), the monetary conditions index was at plus 498 (537), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.29 per cent (5.43).
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were at 5.16 per cent (5.27), February 2006s were at 5.74 per cent (5.84) and November 2011s were at 6.19 per cent (6.23).
- NZPA
<I>Currency</I>: NZ dollar dampened by OCR review
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