The New Zealand dollar edged higher through today's session, thanks to a sell-off of its United States counterpart and a rally in the British pound.
At 5pm, the kiwi was at US69.84c (from US69.21c at 5pm yesterday), having bounced back from a low of US69.04c today.
The Australian dollar plotted a similar course, closing at US75.69c (US75.32c).
A National Bank currency dealer said aside from the greenback sell-off and rally in the pound, today's Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure supported the kiwi's position.
"The CPI was on the strong side and after that the kiwi has remained firm, particularly against the aussie," the dealer todl NZPA.
"The US70.10/20c area was key level now and I think we'll test it, but I'm not sure if we'll break it just yet."
Statistics New Zealand today said annual inflation rose to a two-year high of 2.7 per cent in 2004 after the December quarter CPI rose an unexpectedly high 0.9 per cent.
A Reuters survey found economists, on average, had forecast the index to rise 0.7 per cent, which would have left the annual inflation rate unchanged on 2.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the US dollar was at 102.44 yen (102.36), and the euro was at US$1.3030 (US$1.3042).
On its crosses, the kiwi was fetching A92.27c (A91.90c), 0.5360 euro (0.5307) 37.41 British pence (37.22) 71.54 yen (70.86) and 0.8275 Swiss francs (0.8210).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index was at 68.08 (67.55), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 858 (815).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.78 per cent (6.75), November 2006 bond yields were at 6.23 per cent (6.19), July 2009s were at 6.02 per cent (6.00), and April 2015s were also at 5.98 per cent (5.93).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> Kiwi moves higher on USD sell-off, rally in British pound
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