Kiwi dollar follows aussie up

The New Zealand dollar was up against the greenback today, as it followed the stronger Australian dollar upwards. The aussie has had parity with the US dollar but today broke even higher, up to US$1.01.

The kiwi recently traded at US79.51c, up from US79.13c earlier. On the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies, it was at 72.00, up from 71.92 in the morning.

HiFX currency trader Alex Hill said the kiwi drifted higher today.

''Yesterday we thought we might see the kiwi push a little higher but really the markets are sitting on their hands a little bit waiting for European Summit news to come out over the weekend. The aussie dollar helped drive the kiwi higher,'' Hill said.

On the crosses, the kiwi was at 78.59 Australian cents, up from A78.50c earlier. It was at 63.52 euro cents, up from 63.45 euro cents earlier. It was at 51.00 pence, up from 50.83 pence earlier. It rose to 63.17 Japanese yen, up from 63.16 yen earlier.

Hill expected the kiwi to trade between US78.70c and US79.70c overnight, with a bias towards the upside. 

- © Fairfax NZ News