NZD up on USD weakness

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback today despite the quiet session in Asian markets, with general US dollar weakness lifting the kiwi.

The kiwi recently traded at US81.92c, up from US81.70c in the morning. It was at 73.00 on the Trade Weighted Index, up from 72.94 in the morning.

HiFX senior currency strategist Dan Bell said the kiwi had managed to rally throughout most of the day.

"We've seen a reasonably positive day but it has been relatively quiet through most of the Asian markets. I think positioning is more at play for the kiwi at the moment. It managed to trade off support at the US81.50c mark as we get to the end of the week with a little profit taking on relatively quiet week," Bell said.

"We have seen general US dollar weakness weigh on the market. It has given the kiwi a little bit of a boost."

On the crosses it was at 79.74 Australian cents, up from A70.64c in the morning. It rose to 63.36 euro cents, up from 63.26 euro cents earlier. It was up to 51.10 pence, from 50.94 pence in the morning. The kiwi was at 64.20 Japanese yen, up from 64.02 yen.

Bell expected the kiwi to trade between US81.50c and US82.20c overnight, with a bias towards the downside given that global equity markets continued to look somewhat heavy.

- © Fairfax NZ News