Kiwi gains on weak EU data, glimmers of hope on Wall Street
The Reserve Bank has today kept the official cash rate unchanged at a record low 2.5%.
The New Zealand dollar rose against most of its trading peers after weaker economic data in the eurozone and glimmers of hope in stalled Washington talks over the fiscal cliff, which helped lift equities.
The kiwi dollar rose to 82.55 US cents from 82.48 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index rose to 73.66 from 73.52.
The Reserve Bank kept the official cash rate at a record low 2.5% today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed about 0.9%, recovering from an earlier decline as Washington stayed in focus.
US President Barack Obama said at a quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington that an agreement on budget negotiations could be reached in a week if the Republicans ceded ground on tax increases for the wealthiest Americans.
Meanwhile, a gauge of services industries in the US rose faster than expected last month.
The kiwi rose to 68 yen from 67.80 yen on continued speculation a change of government in Japan this month would herald more aggressive efforts to weaken the currency.
The local currency gained to 78.90 Australian cents from 78.71 cents. It rose to 63.08 euro cents from 62.90 cents after Spain sold fewer bonds than it had targeted and a combined eurozone index of manufacturing and services remained in contraction.
The kiwi rose to 51.25 British pence from 51.19 pence.
(BusinessDesk)
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Kiwi gains on weak EU data, glimmers of hope on Wall Street
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