The New Zealand dollar slipped under US70c today.
It closed at US69.90 from US70.07c at 5pm yesterday having ranged between US69.50c and US70.31c overnight. The low was its lowest in nearly two months.
The Australian dollar fared better against the resurgent US unit, closing at US76.40c from yesterday's US76.50c local close.
A BNZ dealer said comments by the US Federal Reserve's open market committee earlier this week had unsettled global currency markets in the past 48 hours.
The Federal Reserve gave a clear message that it was worried about inflation and suggested it would keep lifting US rates.
The bank's comments had seen the greenback spike mildly higher.
"We've had a good shake-out of US dollar shorts and the kiwi, euro and just about every other currency come under pressure," the dealer said.
"Potentially this could be a turning point...there's a bit of concern that if this is a significant turning point then the kiwi and aussie will remain under pressure," he said.
Markets are keenly awaiting Friday's US jobs data for more evidence of the extent of the Fed's tightening.
The euro ended here at US$1.3265 from US$1.3275 yesterday and the greenback was buying 104.18 yen from 104.43.
The kiwi weakened on all the crosses. At 5pm, it was fetching A91.50c (A91.59c), 0.5272 euro (0.5277), 37.12 British pence (37.20), 72.85 yen (73.15) and 0.8163 Swiss francs (0.8175).
The New Zealand dollar trade-weighted index fell to 67.92 (68.03), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 844 (853).
On the money markets, 90-day bank bill yields fell one pip to 6.76 per cent, February 2006 bonds fell similarly to 6.39 per cent from 6.40, July 2009s fell to 6.10 per cent from 6.12 and April 2015s fell to 6.07 per cent from 6.10 per cent.
- NZPA
<EM>Currency:</EM> NZ dollar slips under US70c
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