KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar hovered below 23-year highs after cracking US81c late on Friday.
The kiwi got as high as US81.03c in offshore trading, close to its post-flat high of US81.10c reached in July last year.
But like its Australian cousin, the kiwi decided to consolidate while the US markets went on holiday and closed at US80.82c, still well up from Friday's close at US80.16c.
The US dollar, which has helped support both currencies, held near three-week lows against the euro after a sharper-than-expected downturn in regional factory activity increased fears of recession.
It looked likely to continue weakening, Westpac currency analyst Michael Gordon said.
"The US economy is slowing but there's been reasonable data, particularly in Asia, it still looks like the Asian economies are are holding up," he said.
"There's no real safe haven appeal for the US dollar at the moment."
Improving sentiment in Asia during the day had also helped, as equity markets showed signs of greater stability.
"I think a lot of the bad news was factored in through January. It's not as if the rumours of credit writedowns have gone away...but at most the US data has been living down to expectations but it hasn't been producing any downside shocks lately."
The NZ dollar was also at an eight-week high against the yen at 8am today, when it was buying 86.91 yen, but eased to 86.75 yen, from 86.50 on Friday.
The kiwi traded in a narrow range against the Aussie, closing at A87.45c (A87.20c on Friday). The Australian dollar strengthened to US92.43c (US91.89c)
The trade weighted index rose to 73.79 from 73.23 on Friday.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets say the kiwi's strength over the past several weeks is also due to a resurgence in kiwi uridashi bond issuance as Japanese investors shift focus back to high yield currencies.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US80.82c US80.16c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A87.45c A87.20c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5455 0.5414
NZ dlr/yen 86.75 86.07
NZ dlr/stg 41.10 40.77p
NZ TWI 73.79 73.23
Australian dollar US92.43c US91.89c
Euro/US dollar 1.4815 1.4804
US dollar/yen 107.34 107.37
- NZPA
