The New Zealand dollar held its ground against most currencies today as the US currency edged up against the yen, on reports of a possible human-to-human transmission of bird flu in Indonesia.
Around 5pm today the kiwi was buying US62.46c, having traded during the day between US62.15c and US62.71c, after briefly touching a 10-day high above US63c overnight.
An OECD six-monthly report said economic growth in New Zealand was expected to pick up in second half of 2006 helped by the fall in the NZ dollar.
Timing of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank were seen as important. Moving too soon would add to inflation pressures, while moving too late would cause unnecessary economic damage.
The TWI was unchanged from its open today at 62.23.
The New Zealand dollar was up against the Australian dollar which opened at A83.06c climbing to A83.19c, slightly up on the euro at 0.4888 from 0.4882, and up on the yen at 70.16 from 69.98.
The Bank of New Zealand said there had been solid demand for the kiwi against the Australian dollar overnight as hedge funds continued to unwind short positions.
Currency strategists also said the NZ dollar was buoyed by the Australian currency which was helped by a rebound in commodity prices and a positive OECD report.
New Zealand trade data for April is due out tomorrow, with a Reuters poll picking a median forecast of a deficit of $180 million for the month and $7.08 billion for the year to April 30.
The following are Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm Tuesday
NZ dlr US62.46c US62.22c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A83.19c A82.63c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4888 0.4832
NZ dlr/yen 70.16 69.11
NZ dlr/stg 33.27 32.97
NZ TWI 62.23 61.69
Australian dollar US75.11c US75.36c
Euro/US dollar US1.2787 US1.2876
US dollar/yen 112.31 111.03
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZD holds its own as USD edges up against yen
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