The New Zealand dollar pushed through the key US70c mark this morning and briefly touched a 6-3/4 year high before it came off the boil, a broker said.
At 5pm, the kiwi was buying US69.49c (from US69.85c at the same time yesterday), having traded between US69.57c and US70.04c, its highest since April 1997.
The Australian dollar was at US77.96c (US77.93c).
BNZ currency strategist Sue Trinh said the kiwi was caught in a whirlwind session of trading, which saw more jawboning from Finance Minister Michael Cullen.
The kiwi started the domestic session on its high for the day, having been dragged up overnight by a resurgent euro.
"But as it turns out the kiwi was unable to sustain those gains," Ms Trinh told NZPA today.
"When the euro came off (during the day) it put pressure on the kiwi to come off as well," she said.
"A lot of people were trying to draw the link between (Dr) Cullen's jawboning and the kiwi coming off."
However, it was the euro's pull-back and worse than expected New Zealand unemployment data which had the greatest impact, Ms Trinh said.
At market's close, the euro was at US$1.2696 ($1.2740), having earlier hit a one-month high of US$1.2788 against the greenback.
Dr Cullen today continued his assault on the high-flying kiwi, saying the markets were acting in an "irrational" manner and did not seem to take into account New Zealand's current account deficit.
"I do find market reaction slightly irrational given the trend of the current account deficit," Dr Cullen said, adding that he could not understand the kiwi's high value against the aussie.
Ms Trinh said the kiwi-aussie cross had today seen some profit taking, with some investors selling the kiwi and buying the aussie.
At 5pm, the kiwi was buying A89.14c (A89.61c)
The trade-weighted index was at 68.13 (68.46), down from the seven-year high of 68.60 that it nudged this morning.
Meanwhile, the market is looking ahead to an announcement by US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan at 5am NZT tomorrow morning.
Some market watchers expect him to take a hawkish stance and talk up the Federal Reserve's official cash rate from its current 1 per cent.
"If he enforces that view you would expect that the US dollar will get a bit of a lift, but if he pours water on those expectations the US dollar will come under more market pressure," Ms Trinh said.
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was buying 0.5473 euro (0.5483), 73.29 yen (73.76), 37.15 British pence (37.45), and 0.8587 Swiss francs (0.8602).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 741 (767), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.59 per cent (5.60).
February 2006 bond yields were at 5.52 per cent (5.53), July 2009 bonds were at 5.74 per cent (5.73), and the April 2013s were at 5.91 per cent (5.86).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi hits fresh high, dragged lower by Euro & jobs data
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.