The New Zealand dollar held up relatively well in a market that sold the euro and Australian dollars.
It closed around the middle of its trading range at US58.42c, which compared with a US58.55c close on Friday.
The Australian dollar fell to US66.75c from Friday's close of US67.08c.
Westpac chief foreign exchange dealer Basil Payn said the kiwi remained reasonably well bid throughout a quiet trading session. The Australian dollar appeared to suffer from profit-taking and unwinding of long positions.
The euro was initially sold but bounced aggressively off its $US1.1538c low to finish at $US1.1595. It had closed here on Friday at $US1.1710.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Sue Trinh said the kiwi registered the biggest gain of the primary currencies against the US dollar last week, although it eased in New York on Friday.
"The week ahead will be dominated by the waiting game ahead of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee for the New Zealand dollar's near-term outlook, but we continue to see evidence of investors' search for yield which is providing underpin."
She said there continued to be heavy demand for eurokiwi bonds, with the latest $200 million three-year issue of eurokiwis taking the total to $2.7 billion this year.
The New Zealand market has March quarter current account and GDP data to look forward to on Thursday and Friday but it is unlikely to influence the currency's track. The current account deficit is forecast to widen to around $4.7 billion while the economy is estimated to have expanded by 0.6 per cent in the March quarter. The annual average growth rate of 4.4 per cent in the March quarter is expected to be a cyclical peak.
On the crosses, the kiwi closed at A87.55c (A87.19c on Friday), 69.18 yen (69.23), 35.10 pence (34.87), 0.7762 Swiss francs (0.7714), and 0.5041 euro (0.5002).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 223 (213), the trade-weighted index was at 61.88 (61.75) and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.22 per cent (5.21).
The February 2005 yields were at 4.78 per cent (4.74), the November 2006s were at 4.81 (4.78), and the November 2011s were at 5.17 per cent (5.14).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi holds up well as Aussie and Euro sold
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