The New Zealand dollar was fairly positive yesterday after a good move overnight, but there was little in the way of action.
At 5pm the kiwi traded at US41.50c, from Thursday's close of US41.24c, and the aussie had strengthened to US50.84c from US50.51c.
The kiwi had a wide 50-point range in New York overnight - US41.38/85c - and started the Wellington session in the middle of that at US41.49c, one dealer said.
"It had a good rally overnight off the back of broad US dollar weakness ... we opened around US41.50c and really have done nothing on the day. We've just stayed bid, that's all," he said.
"There was some weak US data out again overnight, but (the greenback) actually moved before the data came out, so I think they were just pre-empting what would have happened after the data."
The US Commerce Department said consumer spending sank 1.8 per cent in September - double economists' forecasts - after a 0.3 percent gain in August.
It was the first decline in the economy's most important prop in 2-1/2 years, and its steepest fall since January 1987.
New orders for manufactured goods also fell at one of the sharpest rates on record.
The focus tonight will be on US unemployment data.
The dealer said the kiwi was likely to trade between US41.40/60c overnight.
"(Kiwi)'s still quite bid, I think that move overnight would have surprised most of the market, so it looks like they're still a bit short of kiwi, because they certainly would have been short going home last night and it appears there are still some buyers out there at the moment.
"But I still reckon it's going to be pretty quiet."
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi traded unchanged at A81.65c, 0.4593 euros (0.4580 at Thursday's close), 50.54 yen (50.43), 28.26 pence (28.37), 0.8979 marks (0.8958), and 0.6758 Swiss francs (0.6738).
The Australian dollar was buying $NZ1.2247, against yesterday's $NZ1.2248 close.
The 90-day bill yield was at 4.93 per cent (4.97), the trade-weighted index was at 49.32 (49.17) and the monetary conditions index was steady at minus 938 (minus 921).
Among the bonds, the March 2002s were steady at 4.81 per cent, the April 2004s were at 5.09 per cent (5.07), the November 2006s were at 5.60 per cent (5.58) and the November 2011s were at 6.09 per cent (6.11).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Uneventful, positive end to the week for Kiwi
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