KEY POINTS:
The dollar held on to US72c going into the long weekend as investors continued to chase high yields.
By 5pm on Thursday, the kiwi was at US72.03c having peaked earlier above US72.20c. The currency was at US71.88c at 5pm Wednesday.
Against the Aussie unit, which remained near 10-year highs against the US dollar, the kiwi eased to A88.15c from Wednesday's A88.51c.
ANZ Investment Bank chief foreign exchange dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi was rangebound ahead of the Easter break.
"Still holding on to its gains, people want to be long on both kiwi and Aussie and just pick up the yield, the carry trade," Hindley said.
He expected the kiwi to trade between US71.50c and US72.50c during the next three days.
"Unless there's any US dollar news to push us around, one would expect the kiwi to remain bid over the break."
The US dollar hovered below a five-week high against the yen as investors shifted their focus to a monthly US payrolls report due last night (NZT).
The greenback also stayed in sight of a two-year low against the euro and a fresh 10-year low versus the Australian dollar hit after data showing growth in the US service sector was at a four-year low in March, reinforcing the view that US interest rates could be cut.
New Zealand's data calendar remains relatively light next week, aside from the NZIER's quarterly survey of business opinion on Tuesday, and monthly retail trade figures on Friday.
- NZPA
