6.01PM
The New Zealand dollar skipped through mildly negative current account data with the barest of dips and by the close remained well bid, dealers said.
At 5pm, it was buying US66.40c compared to its US66.29c opening and US66.47c at 5pm yesterday.
"The aussie is strong and the kiwi's strong. There's good interest to buy," said a Wellington dealer.
There had been good two-way flows, but the kiwi was stuck in a tight range and it was struggling to break the US66.50c chart point, he said.
"That's the key, whether it can break that tonight," he said, adding it would be interesting to see how the New York market responded to the current account data.
Probably of more interest is tomorrow's GDP data where the market is picking a healthy 0.9 per cent rise in the June quarter. Anything above that number will make two more rate rises this year a sure bet and there would send the kiwi spiralling higher.
The current account for the June quarter was a deficit of $1.8 billion, compared to a revised March quarter deficit of $149m. For the June year, the deficit was $6.4 billion, or 4.6 per cent of GDP.
"The kiwi is definitely struggling for momentum above that US66.30c area and it's hanging on not too convincingly around there," BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said.
"The main driver is the still the US dollar, and the general dynamics around that are very uncertain at the moment," she said.
Meanwhile the Australian dollar firmed to US70.75c against the greenback compared with US70.53c at the local close yesterday.
The kiwi had weakened almost half a cent against the aussie to A93.75c from A94.25c.
Ms Trinh said the kiwi was considered over bought against the aussie.
The euro was at US$1.2272 (US$1.2320), and the US dollar was buying 110.75 yen (109.79).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index (TWI) was at 67.55 (67.47), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 811 (805).
On its other crosses, the kiwi was fetching 0.5412 euros (0.5395), 37.00 British pence (36.99), 73.53 yen (72.98), and 0.8360 Swiss francs (0.8343).
In the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 6.70 per cent. On the bond market, February 2006s were at 6.32 per cent (6.35), July 2009s were at 6.20 per cent (6.23), and April 2013s were at 6.16 per cent (6.19).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar shrugs off mildly negative current account data
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