KEY POINTS:
After a tumultuous month, the New Zealand dollar has taken a breather.
By 8am today it was buying US58.48c from US58.80c at 5pm on Friday.
The NZ dollar had remained locked within a relatively tight range to finish off a month of spectacular trading, ANZ bank said.
Now in a new month, a fresh approach and lower volatility were desired by all.
"Expect a weary start to things as the tsunami of economic data to come this week will mean many wait for tonight's releases before transacting," ANZ said.
The kiwi was around US68c early in October, then late in the month it troughed around US53.50c, its lowest level in more than five years.
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was at A87.14c by 8am today from A87.27c at Friday's local close.
The NZ dollar was also at 0.4580 euro from 0.4575, and 57.81 yen from 57.80. The trade weighted index was 59.09 at 8am from 59.10.
The US dollar recorded its biggest monthly gain against a basket of currencies in more than 17 years as October ended, boosted by month-end demand and concerns about a deteriorating global economy.
The yen pared most of its gains against the greenback, but traded sharply higher against the euro as investors remained averse to risk after bleak US economic reports heightened global recession fears.
The strength in the US dollar and the yen came despite higher US equity prices on Friday (local time).
In recent weeks, rising stocks have typically indicated improving risk appetite, weighing on the US and Japanese currencies.
- NZPA