The New Zealand dollar fell foul of a stronger US dollar, although it made up some ground on its Australian counterpart.
By 5pm the kiwi was buying US59.42c, down on yesterday's close of US59.74c, while the aussie also eased, to US68.54 (US69.13c).
One local dealer said the US dollar strengthened during the Asian session, squashing the euro by about US1 cent and undermining the Australian and New Zealand dollars in the process.
"The euro's been kicked right down to US$1.1620 and that's also had an effect on the kiwi and the aussie, and the US dollar's been bought against most of the Asian currencies today," he said.
The kiwi, which traded between US59.30/80c during the day, was likely to see a range overnight of US59.20/60c.
In Tokyo the greenback surged against the euro following Wall Street's latest rally, and a reshuffle after comments from European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg that a Group of Seven call last month for exchange rate flexibility was not directed at the euro.
Traders appeared to take the opportunity to review their positions on the euro which rose last week to within one US cent of its record high of US$1.1932, hit earlier in the year.
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was buying A86.70c (A86.41c), 64.88 yen (64.71), 0.5112 euro (0.5062), 35.82 pence (35.91), and 0.7914 Swiss francs (0.7842).
The Australian dollar eased to $1.1537 ($1.1571).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 204 (195), the trade-weighted index was at 61.66 (61.59), and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.19 per cent (5.17).
The February 2005 government bond yields were 5.41 per cent (5.36), the November 2006s were at 5.71 per cent (5.65), and the November 2011s were at 6.02 per cent (5.98).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi and Aussie undermined by stronger US dollar
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