NZ dollar gains in quiet trading

The New Zealand dollar rose today on month-end position squaring and also because the euro and Australian dollars were firm.

As expected, trading was restrained ahead of holidays in both the United Kingdom and United States tonight NZ time.

The NZ dollar was at US68.26c at 5pm from US67.77c at 8am and US68.04c at 5pm on Friday. It traded between US67.65c and US68.38c today.

A National Bank business outlook survey showing a slight fall in confidence in May was noted but was not seen as a driver of the market on the day.

"The market is thin and we are following the euro and aussie," one dealer said. "We opened lower and we're back up near where we left on Friday."

Dealers also noted that Fitch Ratings downgraded Spain's credit rating, rekindling concerns about a sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.

Westpac said the market cares little about domestic data at present but it will be monitoring Fonterra's monthly milk powder auction this week.

"Predicting the NZ dollar is largely an exercise in predicting the S&P500 at least until the current bout of global risk aversion fades," Westpac said.

The NZ dollar was at A80.40c at 5pm from A80.09c at the same time on Friday. It was at 0.5543 euro from 0.5530 euro and at 62.43 yen from 61.98 yen.

The trade weighted index rose to 66.27 at 5pm from 65.97 on Friday.

- NZPA