The New Zealand dollar travelled in a slightly wider range today and looked ready to take on the US56.80c challenge.
ANZ Investment Bank chief foreign exchange dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi traded between US56.17/41c today, compared with yesterday's 14-point range.
"It's been a steady day, the kiwi was confined within a range, there's been a little bit of (trans-Tasman) cross activity at these levels.
"We're still managing to hold above US56c, and I think next week we'll gradually move to testing the old highs around US56.80c," Mr Hindley said.
The kiwi reached US56.80c in February, a five-year high, but was unable to move higher and that level has remained a key point on currency charts.
At 5pm the kiwi was buying US56.39c, up from US56.14c last night, while the aussie zoomed up to US63.30c compared with yesterday's US62.65c.
During the day the aussie reached a fresh three-year high of US63.43c.
The kiwi has continued to underperform against the aussie, falling to A89.11c from yesterday's A89.62c.
In Tokyo, the US dollar remained under pressure today as it failed to shake the effects of weak US manufacturing, sales and jobs data this week.
The market was nervous ahead of closely watched US unemployment figures for April tonight, which are expected to send yet more bearish signals.
At 5pm in Wellington the euro rose to $US1.1240 from $US1.1185 last night, and the US dollar eased to 118.65 yen (118.78 yen).
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was buying 66.92 yen (66.68 yen), 35.04 pence (35.08), 0.7582 Swiss francs (0.7608), and 0.5017 euros (0.5019).
The monetary conditions index was at 167 (158), the trade-weighted index was at 60.84 (60.75), and 90-day bank bill yields were steady at 5.49 per cent.
The February 2005 Government Bond yields were unchanged at 5.13 per cent, the November 2006s were at 5.31 per cent (5.32), and the November 2011s were at 5.76 per cent (5.78).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi eyes key US56.80c level
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