The kiwi today continued to ease from its recent record high against the US dollar, as the greenback gathered strength.
At 5pm today in Wellington the kiwi was buying US72.36c from US72.70c at 5pm yesterday.
BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said today's local session was "quite messy" for the kiwi.
"The opening of our session saw the kiwi get sold down towards the days lows actually, because that was the bias in New York -- to buy the US dollar right across the board," she said.
As the day wore on the kiwi picked itself up from its early low of US72.05c to hit a session high of US72.48c.
The US dollar today consolidated overnight gains after minutes from a US Federal Reserve meeting indicated US interest rates would need to climb higher to keep inflation at bay.
While the minutes offered no new surprises, analysts said they cemented a market view that US rates could rise faster than the current moderate pace.
Ms Trinh said the release of the National Bank business outlook survey tomorrow morning could move the kiwi, as it was likely to give analysts clues as to the risk of an interest rate rise when the Reserve Bank meets on March 10.
At 5pm the aussie was buying US78.83c ( US79.17c), the greenback was buying 104.77 yen (104.65) the euro was buying US$1.3238 (US$1.3241).
On the crosses at the kiwi was buying A91.79c (A91.82c), 0.5465 euros (0.5490), 37.90 pence (38.10), 75.83 yen (76.08), and 0.8407 Swiss francs (0.8440).
The Trade Weighted Index (TWI) was at 69.91 (70.16). The monetary conditions index was at plus 999 (1016).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 6.86 per cent, July 2009 bonds were at 6.14 per cent (6.13) and April 2015s were at 5.98 per cent (5.97).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency: </EM>Kiwi continues to soften as Greenback gains ground
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