KEY POINTS:
Demand for the Australasian currencies provided a updraft for the New Zealand dollar today.
The kiwi jumped nearly half a US cent from its open, closing at US79.46c from US78.47c on Friday.
Dealers said the kiwi caught a lift in part from the strengthening Aussie which closed at US91.30c from US90.25c on Friday.
Attractive yields appeared to the reason, with expectations of more interest rates hikes in Australia. The kiwi had also broken above a key level of US79.20c, taking some "shorts" out of the market.
"One would suggest we could push high and have a look back at US80c again," Murray Hindley, a senior dealer at ANZ Institutional Bank, said.
The US market was closed tonight for a public holiday.
Against the yen and euro, the kiwi dollar gained ground to 85.69 yen (84.67 on Friday) and 0.5414 euro (0.5362).
It came under some pressure from the aussie during the session, but closed higher than Friday at A87.05c (A86.96c).
The US dollar, which fell on Friday on weak consumer sentiment and manufacturing data, steadied against the yen and euro as investors awaited data for further clues on the US economy.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US79.46c US78.47c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A87.05c A86.96c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5414 0.5362
NZ dlr/yen 85.69 84.67
NZ dlr/stg 40.52p 39.86p
NZ TWI 72.92 72.23
Australian dollar US91.30c US90.25c
Euro/US dollar 1.4679 1.4636
US dollar/yen 107.82 107.84
- NZPA
