NZ dollar briefly above 77.20USc
The kiwi tops 77.20USc for the first time in eight weeks but it was short-lived.
For the first time in eight weeks, the New Zealand dollar topped 77.20USc, but the high point was fleeting and it quickly returned to the range it has been in for much of the week.
By 8am the kiwi was at 76.75USc against the greenback, little different from its level at 5pm yesterday.
ANZ bank said attempts by the NZ dollar to move lower during the past 24 hours had been frustrated by reasonable downside demand.
It had barely backed off despite further poor news with a weaker online Fonterra auction result overnight, with weighted average prices at the globalDairyTrade auction falling 2.4%.
The kiwi was also little changed against the Australian dollar, buying 74.31Ac at 8am, after rising to a six-week high around 74.60Ac overnight.
Yesterday Australia's central bank left its cash rate at 4.75%, compared with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's 2.5%.
The NZ dollar edged lower to €0.5397 euro at 8am, while climbing above ¥65 for the first time in more than four months. The trade weighted index was little changed at 67.31 at 8am.
The euro rose to an 11-month high against the yen and neared a recent five-month peak against the US dollar on expectations of rising euro zone interest rates that could keep the single currency supported in months ahead.
Hedge fund adviser Medley Global Advisors said in a report that the European Central Bank was poised to raise rates, as expected, on Thursday (local time) and build in room to tighten further. The report helped the euro recover from earlier losses knocked by a ratings downgrade of Portugal.
NZPA
Wed, 06 Apr 2011
Wed, 06 Apr 2011
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NZ dollar briefly above 77.20USc
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