The New Zealand dollar drifted lower although the selling that has squashed the currency this week eased yesterday.
At 5pm the kiwi was US41.61c, up from Thursday night's US41.39c close, while the aussie was little moved, at US50.75c from US50.77c Thursday.
One dealer said the kiwi was likely to continue falling, with the next key support at US41.40c. Once the kiwi hit that, it was likely to carry on down to US40.90c.
The ANZ said in its weekly commentary that the kiwi had honoured its traditional show of resilience in the first few weeks of the New Year, with commentators calling for further gains during the year.
"With almost the same degree of consistency, the kiwi has failed to deliver on commentators' promises," the bank said.
For some time the kiwi has tended to be influenced more by technical factors and specific currency flows than economic fundamentals.
Offshore, the yen was under siege after slumping to three-year lows against the dollar, and the speed of the slide drew calls for calm from Japanese officials.
They had reason to worry since both JGBs and the Nikkei share index were also sliding, fuelling fears the downtrend in the yen was frightening foreign investors out of Japanese assets.
In New Zealand the US dollar was at 134.49 yen (132.82 on Thursday).
On the aussie cross, the kiwi was at A81.99c from Thursday's close of A81.51c close. It was buying $NZ1.2192 ($NZ1.2269).
On other crosses the kiwi strengthened, buying 55.96 yen (54.97 at Thursday's close) 0.4835 euro (0.4799c), 29.47 pence (29.26), and 0.7143 Swiss francs (0.7068).
The Trade Weighted Index lifted to 51.09 (50.65), 90-day bank bills were at 4.89 per cent (4.88) and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 765 from minus 810.
In the debt market, the April 2004s were at 5.93 per cent (5.89), the November 2006s at 6.45 per cent (6.41), and the November 2011s at 6.69 per cent (6.65).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi holds ground at end of week
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