Dollar dips below US50c overnight

LATEST: The New Zealand dollar dropped below US50c for the first time in six years overnight, and may have been saved from going lower by snow in London.

By 8am the kiwi had recovered to US50.48c, slightly higher than its level at 5pm yesterday, having bottomed around US49.65c shortly before 3am.

However, shortly after midday the dollar was trading down again at US50.19c.

ANZ questioned whether the NZ dollar had been saved from further selling pressure by heavy snow in London, which meant most workers in the City financial centre did not make it to the office.

"It probably matters not for they will have time for another crack at the NZD," ANZ said.

It was only a matter of time before the kiwi would head below US50c again, ANZ said. The bank has forecast the NZ dollar will be heading to below US45c by the end of this year.

The move back above US50c by the kiwi early today was the result of a short covering rally, ANZ said.

Against the yen, the NZ dollar fell to its lowest level in eight years late last night to around 44.2 yen. By the local open the kiwi was up to 45.2 yen, little changed from its level at 5pm.

The NZ dollar started the local trading day down against the European currency to 0.3927 euro from 0.3958.

The kiwi was up against the Australian dollar to A79.92c from A79.63c at the local close. The trade weighted index was 51.30 at 8am from 51.27 at 5pm.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is due to make an announcement on Australian interest rates at 4.30pm today.

ANZ said not much relief was in sight for importers on the cross rate, although a cut of 1 percentage point or more in Australian interest rates would see another attempt for the kiwi to break above A80c.

The euro rose against the US dollar after a better-than-expected reading on US manufacturing data for January helped ease demand for the greenback as a safe haven.

- NZPA