NZD up with rates on hold

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback today after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler kept interest rates on hold and said there would not be a rise before 2014.

The kiwi recently traded at US82.87c, up from US82.52c in the morning. It was at 74.10 on the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies, up from 73.66 earlier.

Westpac market strategist Imre Speizer said the kiwi was looking bullish.

"I think it will keep going up tonight. The main factor today was the Reserve Bank meeting which was a hawkish surprise for most of the market.

"They ruled out interest rate cuts and said the next move will be higher, which caused swap rates to jump and the kiwi to move up," Speizer said.

On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 79.20 Australian cents, up from A78.88c earlier. It was at 63.49 euro cents, up from 63.09 euro cents. Against the British pound, the kiwi was at 51.50 pence, up from 51.25 pence earlier. 

Overnight, markets would be looking towards Bank of England and European Central Bank meetings. Speizer said the European Central Bank was likely to downgrade its economic forecast which could be negative for the kiwi. 

The kiwi was expected to trade between US82.70c and US83.55c overnight with a bias towards the upside.

- © Fairfax NZ News