6pm
The New Zealand dollar bounced off its lows today but failed to regain all the ground lost when it tumbled through key support levels last night.
At 5pm the kiwi was at US54.65c, after closing yesterday at US55.39c and kicking off today at US54.85c.
The kiwi lost the better part of 1 percent for the second night in a row after breaking the key US55c level.
The aussie was at US59.31c, compared with US60.53c at yesterday's close.
Bank of New Zealand forex manager Mike Symonds said risk aversion was on the rise internationally, leading investors to liquidate a lot of kiwi and aussie positions that have been building up.
"The theme of profit-taking continued today for the kiwi, although we did bounce off a low of US54.20c. That low US54c represents a major technical support, which corresponds with the multi-month lows we saw in January and February.
"We see an opportunity for the kiwi to recover a little overnight, but while those uncertainties continue in financial markets and all these rumours around what's happening with Iraq, I don't see a good turnaround for the kiwi.
"In fact, I think the top side will remain relatively limited for the very short term," Mr Symonds said.
He picked the kiwi to trade overnight between US54.20/85c.
In Tokyo, the US dollar strode to two-week highs against the yen and one-week highs on the euro on rumours that feuding within the Iraqi government that could head off or quickly end any US-led war.
That followed US buying yesterday on rumours, subsequently denied, that Osama bin Laden had been captured.
In Wellington at 5pm the US dollar was buying 118.09 yen, compared with 117.19 yen last night, while the euro eased to $US1.0881 ($US1.1033).
Against its major trading partners at 5pm, the kiwi was at A92.12c (A91.46c), 0.5022 euro (0.5018), 0.7381 Swiss francs (0.7371), 64.54 yen (64.90) and 34.05 pence (34.48).
The Australian dollar fell against the kiwi to $NZ1.0854 ($NZ1.1003).
On the money market, 90-day bills were at 5.85 percent (5.83), the monetary conditions index was at plus 132 (plus 158), and the trade-weighted index was at 59.99 (60.32).
Long-dated bonds weakened, with the April 2004 government bonds at 5.41 percent (5.35), the November 2006s at 5.39 percent (5.30) and the November 2011s at 5.79 percent (5.69).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi bounces off lows but fails to regain all lost ground
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