24 Feb 2014

World waiting for central bank actions

7:27 pm on 24 February 2014

The New Zealand dollar is marginally weaker against the US dollar and little changed against the currencies of other major trading partners.

Bancorp Treasury Services senior client advisor Peter Cavanaugh said investors were waiting for more clues as to what central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve, may do.

"The world's in a waiting pattern at the moment, waiting for central bank actions. The markets are waiting for the US employment data late next week, which will be a factor in the Federal Reserve's deliberations next month," Mr Cavanaugh said.

Just after 5pm, the New Zealand dollar was buying: 82.76 US cents, 92.27 Australian cents, 49.72 pence, 0.6022 euro and 84.58 yen.

Shares up

The share market rose nearly 1 percent, the NZX Top 50 Index gaining 42 points to 4970.

Forsyth Barr investment adviser Euan McIntosh said results from a number of companies were again driving the market.

Sky TV shares rose 33 cents, or nearly 6 percent, to $6.08, Freightways gained 13 cents to $4.70, Telecom climbed 7 cents to $2.45 but Chorus fell 1 cent to $1.42.