After softening this morning as the greenback coasted to a positive month end, the kiwi was scrambling back at close on the back of a strong Euro.
"There was a bit of residual US dollar strength and kiwi and aussie weakness first thing this morning, then all of a sudden the Euro just took off," ANZ Investment Bank senior dealer Mark Elliot said.
After "not selling much" on Friday night, the Euro rallied after selling well in Asia and "the dollar fell off across the board".
At 5pm, the kiwi was at US68.25c (from US68.30c at 5pm Friday), having ranged between US67.81c and US68.25c today. The kiwi began the session at US68.15c and gained through the day.
The greenback strengthened modestly against most major currencies on Friday after figures showed US second-quarter gross domestic product growth was in line with expectations, and a July reading of Midwest manufacturing activity was well above forecasts, suggesting no end anytime soon to the Federal Reserve's programme of raising interest rates.
In the absence of any local data this week, market commentators expect the New Zealand dollar to focus on international developments.
Interest rate decisions are expected from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
New Zealand's Reserve Bank on Thursday left the local cash rate at 6.75 per cent -- the highest in the industrialised world. That interest rate differential has played a big part in the kiwi's rise over the past year.
ANZ expects the kiwi to trade lower over the week.
"With US data strong, the market firming towards a 4 per cent plus Fed funds rate and China revaluation wariness, momentum towards the US dollar is expected to reassert," the bank's chief economist John McDermott said.
In Wellington, the euro ended the first day of the month at US$1.2184 (US$1.2125 on Friday) and the US dollar at 112.17 yen (112.20).
The Australian dollar closed at US75.97c (US75.95c at 5pm Friday).
On its crosses, the kiwi opened at A89.86c (A89.90c), 0.5603 euro (0.5633), 38.73 British pence (38.91), 0.8753 Swiss francs (0.8780) and 76.57 yen (76.62).
The TWI was at 68.98 (69.17) and the monetary conditions index on plus 948 (963).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields closed at 7.03 per cent, July 2009 bond yields were steady on 5.78 per cent, and April 2015s were on 5.72 per cent (5.71).
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> NZ dollar scrambles back on Euro recovery
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