Kiwi up against the greenback

The New Zealand dollar fell slightly against the greenback today but is expected to continue to grind higher.

The kiwi recently traded at US84.54c, down from US84.41c in the morning. It was at 75.40 on the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners’ currencies, down from 75.20 in the morning.

HiFX currency trader Alex Hill said the kiwi had not given back any of the gains it made last week when it hit a 14 month high of US84.73c against the greenback.

‘‘It is still giving exporters a lot of grief. We have still got this US fiscal cliff situation, looking at the big date of January 1.

Markets are very focused on that,’’ Hill said.

‘‘The kiwi made a bit of a slide today with some selling interest going in to the back end of the year. In terms of market activity, there will be Australian Reserve Bank monetary policy minutes out tomorrow that will be closely watched.’’

On the crosses the kiwi was at 80.08 Australian cents, down from A80.12c in the morning. It was at 64.17 euro cents, up from 64.14 euro cents earlier. It fell to 52.22 pence from 52.28 pence earlier. Against the Japanese yen it was at 70.90, up from 70.50 yen in the morning.

Hill expected the kiwi to trade between US84.10c and US84.80c overnight.

- © Fairfax NZ News