The euro took a tumble overnight and in Asian trading after the European Central Bank indicated it might not lift interest rates in until late 2019, even as it signalled it would end its massive bond purchase scheme by the end of this year. The euro was at US$1.1568 in late Wellington trading.
"I think this is the beginning of the next wave down and if nothing else it's (the euro weakness) driving the US dollar higher against everything," said Martin Rudings, senior dealer foreign exchange at OMF.
He said now the kiwi has broken through the 69.70 US cents level it could head toward 68.50 US cents.
The kiwi dollar traded at 60.08 euro cents from 59.51 cents late yesterday.
Investors are also keeping one eye on global trade issues after US President Donald Trump reportedly approved tariffs on about $50 billion of Chinese goods. The US Trade Representative is set to announce a list of goods that will be subject to the tariffs on Friday in the US, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Rudings said that next week's gross domestic product data in New Zealand will also be closely watched. The median in a Bloomberg poll is for economic growth of 0.5 percent in the quarter, below the central bank's forecast of 0.7 per cent. A weak number will add to the kiwi's downside, said Rudings.
The kiwi traded at 52.46 British pence, unchanged from late yesterday, and was at 93.12 Australian cents from 92.89 cents late yesterday. It fell to 76.99 yen from 77.40 yen and to 4.4595 from 4.4936 yuan.
New Zealand's two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.23 per cent and 10-year swaps fell 3 basis points to 3.13 per cent.
