Kiwi nears three-year high; NZX50 falls

The kiwi dollar was trading at 71.75 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, up from 71.18 cents yesterday, its highest level since April 2018.

The trade-weighted index was at 74.47 at 5pm, from 74.10 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 93.84 Australian cents from 93.73 cents, 74.13 yen from 73.81 yen, 58.40 euro cents from 58.16 cents, 52.98 British pence from 52.77 pence, and 4.6785 Chinese yuan from 4.6507 yuan.

Despite the optimistic outlook from currency traders, there was some negativity in equity markets as investors unwound a little of yesterday’s rally as confidence in any upgrade to the US stimulus package faltered.    

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 29.63 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,217.14. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 18 fell, and five were unchanged. Turnover was $95.8 million.