The New Zealand dollar retreated from last night's two-month highs today after finding the going tough around 71c.
'The kiwi has been under a little bit of pressure throughout the day, and having popped above that 71 figure in our session yesterday, its been under constant selling pressure overnight and during this session," an analyst said.
The kiwi closed in Wellington flat on US70.52c, well down on an intraday high of US71.10c yesterday - a level not seen since mid- June.
During today it had a range of US70.37 to US70.65.
"It's come a long way very quickly over recent weeks and looks to be running out of steam," she said.
The US dollar rallied on Monday, rising from last week's 2-1/2 month low against the euro, helped by a favourable US capital flows report that showed increased demand for US assets.
The United States attracted US$71.2 ($101.96) billion worth of foreign capital in June, the largest net inflow since February and more than enough to cover its trade deficit, Treasury's International Capital report showed.
Analysts had expected inflows of about US$65 billion.
The New Zealand dollar was the strongest performing currency in the past month, with a gain of 5 per cent, driven by a weaker US dollar and strong yield-related demand.
Elsewhere, the kiwi was up against the aussie - at A91.86c (A91.76c yesterday). The aussie was down against the greenback buying US76.79c (US76.86c at yesterday's local close) while the US dollar was buying 109.36 yen (109.24).
The euro eased to 1.2347 (1.2367).
On its crosses, the kiwi was buying 0.5712 euro (0.5703), 38.99 pence (39.92), 77.12 yen (77.04), and 0.8866 Swiss francs (0.8848).
The Australian dollar was buying NZ1.0890 ($1.0898).
On a trade-weighted basis the kiwi was at 70.47 (70.41). The MCI was at 1057 (1052).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were steady at 7.04 per cent. July 2009 bond yields were on 5.79 per cent (5.81), and April 2015s were on 5.77 per cent (5.80).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi finds going tough
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