The New Zealand dollar had a volatile session today in which it ended at a one-year low against its Australian counterpart.
By 5pm the kiwi was buying US59.74c, down on Friday's close of US59.90c and below its high today of US60.17c.
The aussie was at US69.13c from US69.00c late on Friday.
Against the aussie the kiwi fell from Friday's close of A86.82c to buy A86.41c -- a level last seen in late September 2002 and well off peaks earlier this year above A93c.
A local dealer said the kiwi traded as low as US59.63c today.
"It was a pretty volatile sort of range -- it opened up around US60c, touched its highs and it's been well-offered for most of the afternoon, mainly against the aussie.
"We've had a new low on kiwi-aussie for this year, of A86.25c, so at this stage the market's very much trying to take kiwi-aussie lower...
"I'd say we'll see (kiwi) firm up tonight ... kiwi should hold around these levels of US59.60c, these should be good levels to buy and we should see it higher by the end of the week, somewhere around US60.50c," he said.
Of interest this week will be Consumers Price Index inflation figures for the September quarter on Wednesday, and a speech by Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard tomorrow night.
Most markets in the United States are closed for Monday to mark Columbus Day, although the New York Stock Exchange will be open.
Tokyo is also closed for a holiday today, removing further liquidity from foreign exchange markets.
In Singapore, the US dollar drifted at three-year lows against the yen in quiet trade.
The greenback sank on Friday after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly boosted the amount of money in the financial system by raising the upper end of its target for banks' current accounts held at the central bank.
At 5pm the euro rose to US$1.1802 from US$1.1738 late on Friday, while the US dollar eased to 108.34 yen (109.19).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying 64.71 yen (65.41 on Friday), 0.5062 euro (0.5104), 35.91 pence (35.99), and 0.7842 Swiss francs (0.7899).
The Australian dollar firmed against the kiwi to buy $1.1571 ($1.1517).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 195 (226), the trade-weighted index was at 61.59 (61.94), and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.17 per cent (5.19).
The February 2005 government bond yields were 5.36 per cent (5.38), the November 2006s were at 5.65 per cent (5.67), and the November 2011s were at 5.98 per cent (6.00).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi hits year low against Aussie
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