The New Zealand dollar touched a month-low against the US dollar as the greenback broadly strengthened on optimism about the US economy and after the Bank of Japan upped its stimulus plans.
The kiwi traded at 77.64 US cents as at 5pm in Wellington, unchanged from the start of the
day and down from 78.41 cents in late local trading on Friday. The local currency traded at 87.52 yen, from 87.59 yen at 8am and from as high as 88.03 yen, highest since Sept. 25, in New York on Friday.
US government figures on Friday are expected to show American employers added about 235,000 jobs in October, while the jobless rate held at a six-year low of 5.9 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey. A strong labour market underlines expectations it is a matter of when not if the Federal Reserve begins raising interest rates next year.
The yen was broadly weaker after the BOJ on Friday said it would raise its asset buying programme to 80 trillion yen a year, from a previous rate of 60-70 trillion yen, in an attempt to encourage more lending and boost spending. Japanese banks were closed on Monday for the Culture Day holiday.
"The kiwi remains fairly downbeat," said Imre Speizer, senior market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. US data and the Bank of Japan "are fresh catalysts."
