Kiwi under 62c

Press, 17 December 1988, Page 28

Kiwi under 62c

PA Wellington The New Zealand dollar closed lower at U 561.95/ 05c in Wellington yesterday on a reasonably active day’s trading. It opened at 62.15/25c after solid overseas buying on Thursday night that saw it as high as 63.15 c in New York before being sold off to 62.20 c. Later, in Sydney the New Zealand dollar closed at U562.08/18C. “From there the New Zealand dollar has been tracking the Australian dollar all day,” one dealer said. The Australian dollar fell on the release of Australia trade information (report, page 33). “The figures were bad, even in the breakdown, and there will be a lot more weakness in the Australian dollar filtering through to the New Zealand dollar,” another dealer said. Other than that, dealers expected a quiet week up

to Christmas — “Bar any more political revelations,” one dealer said. On cross rates, the New Zealand dollar was valued at Aust73.soc, 1.0901 marks, 34.1ip, 0.9173 Swiss francs, and 77.268 yen. The Reserve Bank’s trade-weighted index closed at 58.8 from its open of 58.9 and 58.8 close on Thursday. In Sydney the Australian dollar closed sharply lower after worse-than-forecast November trade figures saw the currency plunge more than US2c. Dealers said the unsettled market led many banks to withdraw from trading as liquidity dried up. This triggered buy/ sell quotations as wide as USlc. The unit settled at U584.35/65C after trading over an 83.95 c to 86.40 c range. This compared with Thursday’s close of 85.64/69c and an opening

of 85.31/38C. The Australian dollar has slumped more than US4c in just over a week from a four-year peak of 88.35 c. The sAustl.ss billion November current account deficit was well above market expectations of sAust7ooM to SAI.2 billion. Before the release of the trade data, the dollar raced to a day’s high 86.40 c as a buying order estimated at sAust2soM steamrolled a then subdued market. The Australian dollar closed at $NZ1.3588/35, compared with $NZ1.3834/65c on Thursday. In New York on Thursday (early yesterday N.Z. time), the U.S. dollar finished a day of hectic trading sharply higher on growing expectations of an early increase in the 6.5 per cent U.S. discount rate.