Currency: NZ dollar sinks on stronger US dollar

The New Zealand dollar sank lower through most of today's session on broad-based strength in the United States dollar and profit taking, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the kiwi was at US69.21c (from US69.99c at 5pm last night), having recovered this afternoon from a session low of US69.06c

The Australian dollar was at US75.32c (US76.07c).

Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said the kiwi lost ground through the morning on a resurgent greenback.

"We've seen a bit of that in the last few sessions," he told NZPA today.

"The aussie and kiwi have seen a lot of profit taking," Mr Bayley said, adding that most of the flow was speculative.

"What that means is investors have been protecting their profits."

This could be seen on the kiwi's main crosses, down on yesterday's closing levels.

The kiwi was fetching A91.90c (A92.01c), 0.5307 euro (0.5336) 37.22 British pence (37.38) 70.86 yen (71.43) and 0.8210 Swiss francs (0.8259).

The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index was at 67.55 (68.01) while the monetary conditions index was at plus 815 (849).

Meanwhile, the US dollar was at 102.36 yen (102.06 yen) and the euro was at US$1.3042 (US$1.3117).

BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said broader currency trading had been dominated by the upcoming G7 meeting and speculation China would be pressured into easing off its fixed currency peg.

The market will also be watching US capital flow figures due out tonight (NZT).

There was virtually no movement on the money markets, with 90-day bank bill yields at 6.75 per cent (6.74), November 2006 bond yields were at 6.19 per cent (6.16), July 2009s were at 6.00 per cent (5.96), and April 2015s at 5.93 per cent (5.90).

- NZPA