NZD down as hurricane batters US

The New Zealand dollar fell against the greenback today as on Wall Street, Hurricane Sandy caused the New York Stock Exchange to shut its trading floors although digital trading continued.

The kiwi recently traded at US82.14c, up from US82.20c in the morning. It was at 73.20 on the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies, unchanged from the morning.

HiFX currency trader Alex Hill said the kiwi had trickled off today.

"There is good support at that key US82.00c level, it is failing to get under that. Markets are poised to see how the start of the week goes on the New York Stock Exchange. If we see widespread damage in the States with the weather and there is a sell off in US stock markets that would drive the kiwi lower," Hill said.

"There isn't a heck of a lot domestically this week in terms of data. Markets are going to be looking at offshore drivers, such as the Bank Of Japan meeting tomorrow - speculation is rife that there could be additional easing by their central bank."

On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 79.24 Australian cents, down marginally from A79.29c in the morning. It was at 63.51 euro cents, up from 63.48 euro cents in the morning. The kiwi was at 51.07 pence, up from 51.00 pence in the morning. It rose to 65.50 Japanese yen from 65.44 yen earlier.

Hill expected the kiwi to trade between US81.50c and US82.30c overnight with a bias towards the downside.

- © Fairfax NZ News