NZD down after Aussie rate cut

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback today but was down against the aussie after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates 25 basis points to 3 per cent.

The kiwi recently traded at US82.21c, up from US82.11c in the morning. It was at 78.69 Australian cents, down from A78.74c earlier. On the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies it was at 73.30, down from 73.33.

"The highlight has just been the Reserve Bank of Australia which cut rates as expected and because it was so priced in, it was what the market was fully expecting, the aussie actually rallied. That dragged the kiwi higher with it," HiFX currency strategist Alex Hill said.

"There is still is a lot of data coming out this week, we have the Spanish employment figures tonight, PMI numbers out of the UK and then domestically we have got the cash rate announcement on Thursday as well as Australian employment figures. In this part of the world, people are probably holding their breath til Thursday."

On the crosses it was at 62.94 euro cents, down from 63.88 euro cents earlier. Against the Japanese yen it was at 67.53 yen, up from 67.49 yen earlier. It rose to 51.06 pence from 51 pence in the morning.

Hill expected the kiwi to trade between US81.80c and US82.50c with a bias towards the downside overnight.

- © Fairfax NZ News