8 Dec 2014

Dollar falls, sharemarket rises

6:35 pm on 8 December 2014

The New Zealand dollar has fallen more than one US cent below a key trading level after breaking under 77 US cents late on Friday.

The senior foreign exchange strategist at ANZ, Sam Tuck, said the New Zealand dollar had been pushed down by stronger than expected economic data in the United States late on Friday, including US labour force data, and local pressure was expected to drive it lower still.

"We'll get continued weakness with the market focussing on a Fonterra dairy payout forecast provision and the Reserve Bank on Thursday expected to maintain pressure on the currency."

At 5pm on Monday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 76.42 US cents, 92.19 Australian cents, 49.10 British pence, 0.6219 euro, 92.89 yen and 4.70 renminbi.

Sharemarket up

The New Zealand sharemarket rose today. The benchmark Top 50 Index closed up 7 point to 5529.

An investment advisor with Forsyth Barr, Mark Ammundsen says the market was mixed, with little corporate news to drive direction.

Infratil's share price rose 5.5 cents to $2.89.

Auckland Airport was up 10 cents to $4.23.

And Chorus's rose 5.5 cents to just over $2.70.

On the down side, Ryman Healthcare fell 9 cents to $8.11.

Mighty River fell 6 cents to $3, and Oceana Gold also declined by 11 cents to $2.31.