Most of the activity on the currency market today came from forex players unloading their "carry trade" in the Swiss franc, a broker said.
At 5pm, the New Zealand dollar was fetching US64.81c (from US65.07c at the same time last night), having traded between US64.45c and US64.85c today.
The Australian dollar was at US74.08c (US74.27c).
BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said most of today's trading action came within an hour of the market opening at 8.30am.
"In particular a lot of people who were invested the kiwi-Swiss franc cross and the aussie-Swiss franc cross were unloading those positions," she told NZPA today.
"They were selling the kiwi and buying the Swiss franc."
The kiwi-Swiss franc cross was at 0.8127 francs (0.8193), while the aussie-Swiss franc cross was at 0.9290 francs (0.9265).
Carry trading involves borrowing in low-yield currencies like the Swiss france to invest in high-yield ones like the kiwi and aussie.
"A lot of people are in that trade because they can make an interest rate pickup," Ms Trinh said.
Meanwhile, the United States dollar continued to show its broad-based weakness.
The euro was at US$1.2405 (US$1.2331), having earlier peaked at US$1.2412, while the greenback was buying 107.49 yen (107.52).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.50c (A87.62c), 0.5225 euro (0.5279), 69.66 yen (69.96), and 36.70 pence (37.11).
The trade weighted index was at 64.94 (65.30), the monetary conditions index was at plus 477 (504), and 90-day bank bills were unchanged at 5.34 per cent.
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were unchanged at 5.15 per cent, February 2006s were unchanged at 5.58 per cent, and November 2011s were at 5.88 per cent (5.90).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Forex investors unload 'carry trade'
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