Dollar drops to near decade low against Aussie

Friday 10th December 2010

The New Zealand dollar fell to within a whisker of a 10-year low against an Australian dollar boosted by powerful jobs figures published yesterday.

The kiwi dropped to around A75.60c early today, within about a 10th of a cent of decade lows reached this year. By 8am the NZ dollar was back up to around A76c, slightly stronger than its level at 5pm yesterday.

The NZ dollar was also down to US74.73c at 8am from US74.90c at 5pm, and dropped to 62.52 yen from 62.77, while rising to 0.5644 euro from 0.5629. The trade weighted index slipped to 67.57 from 67.62.

The NZ dollar fell yesterday on a dovish Reserve Bank monetary policy statement, which left the official cash rate at 3%.

Overnight, the euro fell against the US dollar after a ratings agency downgraded Ireland's sovereign debt rating as an opposition party there earlier said it would vote against a bailout package for the debt-laden country.

A larger-than-expected decline in weekly claims for first-time jobless benefits in the United States added to the view that the US economy was gaining traction.

NZPA

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