The New Zealand dollar fell in an orderly fashion against the US dollar yesterday to close below US42c.
At 5pm the kiwi traded at US41.72c, down from Tuesday night's close of US42.27c, while the aussie was at US50.94c from US51.05c Tuesday.
One local dealer said the kiwi traded in a good range.
"When we came in this morning it was at the US42.10c level, so there's been some reasonable (offshore) selling interest on the day - it's good to see some movement.
"It has been reasonably orderly right throughout the day," the dealer said. "It seemed to be technically-based offshore sellers.
The kiwi broke through initial support of US41.90c, with the next significant level at US41.65c.
"Overnight I'd still expect it to be under a bit of pressure, I'd pick it to be around US41.50/90c," he said.
The Australian dollar saw less action, trading in a tight range between US50.84/95c.
"By comparison to the kiwi it has been fairly quiet, and most of the selling has been New Zealand dollar-related rather than filtering through from the aussie."
On the cross the kiwi closed at A81.92c compared with its A82.03c close on Tuesday. The aussie was buying $NZ1.2208 ($NZ1.2191).
The euro was looking quiet robust at US86.60c (US86.26c Tuesday).
Traders said that improving prospects for the US economy, revealed through improved retail sales and consumer confidence data, had already been largely factored into the market.
Meanwhile the greenback skidded almost a full yen to hit a one-week low, in part due to a report in the Wall Street Journal that US car giant General Motors was lobbying Washington to take steps against the weak yen.
The protest followed calls from the National Association of Manufacturing for the administration to temper the strong dollar policy.
The Federal Reserve policy board concludes a two-day meeting today (NZT), and the market still expects no cut in rates as a result.
On the other main crosses the kiwi was buying 55.36 yen (56.37), 0.4821 euro (0.4899c), 29.51 pence (29.96), and 0.7082 Swiss francs (0.7207).
The Trade Weighted Index was at 50.99 (51.64), 90-day bank bills were at 4.87 percent (4.88) and the monetary conditions index was at minus 778 (minus 712).
In the debt market medium and longer bond yields fell quite sharply. The March 2002 bonds were at 4.73 per cent (4.73), the April 2004s fell to 5.81 per cent (5.88), the November 2006s fell to 6.31 per cent (6.38), and the November 2011s fell to 6.58 per cent (6.66).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar in orderly retreat
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