KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar opened firmer today after the Christmas holiday break.
The kiwi was buying US57.65c at 8am compared with US56.75c at 5pm on Christmas Eve.
ANZ Institutional Bank chief foreign exchange dealer Murray Hindley said the forex markets were thin with no trades of note going through this morning so far.
"And I would expect that to be the case for the next three days," he told NZPA.
The kiwi had also gained against the Australian dollar, yen, euro and sterling, but Mr Hindley said that reflected the illiquid state of the markets.
The New Zealand dollar was buying A84.04c at 8am from A83.78c at 5pm last Wednesday, 0.4101 euro (from 0.4065), 52.28 yen (51.40) and 39.37 British pence (38.40).
On the trade-weighted index the kiwi firmed to 56.20 (55.52).
- NZPA