Halloween brought a bit of a horror show day for the New Zealand dollar which looks ready to continue sinking overnight.
At 5pm the kiwi fell to US41.36c from US41.62c on Tuesday, while the aussie fell to US50.53c from US50.77c Tuesday.
The kiwi's range was US41.28/43c, with the high struck early in the day, one local dealer said.
"It came off from there on the back of the aussie getting sold down to US50.35c, really struggled to rally throughout the course of the day.
"It was a reasonably quiet day, I think the risk is still on the down side mainly on the back of the aussie looking a bit weaker, a bit heavier than it has in the last few days."
The euro rose a touch against the greenback, but it had to rise through US90.90c to make a break for the top side, he said. At 5pm the euro traded at US90.72c, having continued to rise through the day.
He expected the kiwi to trade between US41.15/45c overnight.
"It has been a bit dull. Today's the 31st, so month end - a bit of domestic New Zealand corporate market selling so that just weighed on it a bit. I've only really seen one buyer throughout the course of the day so the tone was to knock the kiwi down a bit."
Unsurprisingly, US consumer confidence plunged to a seven-year low in October boosting European currencies but the Antipodean dollars turned a blind eye. The kiwi was weighed down by an equally poor local confidence report.
The National Bank's October business outlook showed business confidence suffered its third largest plunge in the survey's 13 year history as fallout from the September 11 attacks in the US further contaminated New Zealand's economy.
Only in May last year and during the deep recession of 1990/01 has there been a steeper decline in confidence during the survey's history.
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was trading at A81.93c (A81.97c at yesterday's close), 0.4560 euros (0.4595), 50.42 yen (50.73), 28.45 pence (28.58), 0.8916 marks (0.8988), and 0.6707 Swiss francs (0.6771).
The Australian dollar was buying $NZ1.2210, against yesterday's $NZ1.2199 close.
The 90-day bill yields were at 4.94 per cent (4.96), the trade-weighted index was at 49.20 (49.48) and the monetary conditions index eased to minus 950 (minus 919).
Among the bonds, the March 2002s were at 4.80 per cent (4.83), the April 2004s were at 5.03 per cent (5.07), the November 2006s were at 5.57 per cent (5.64) and the November 2011s were at 6.16 per cent (6.22).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar likely to continue sinking
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