The New Zealand dollar spent the last day of the financial quarter on the rise, and was eyeing up more gains ahead.
By 5pm the kiwi was at US59.46c, up from US58.75c late yesterday, while the aussie was also rose, to US68.00c (US67.13c).
Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said volumes today were moderate, and the kiwi traded in a range of US59.23/58c.
The kiwi capitalised on sharp gains in the US dollar overnight, building on its 3/4 of a US cent spike during today's session, Mr Bayley said.
He picked the kiwi to trade between US59.30/80c overnight, with the potential to push higher later during the week.
"The bias is still definitely higher. Yesterday we picked a US58.70/US60.10c range for the week -- we've pushed through the bottom of it, but I'm still inclined to keep our view as far as the top goes.
"The US dollar is still struggling to some extent to find an acceptable avenue to have its weakness traded, so the dollar's bias is down and kiwi/US is still up, but the ride may be fairly slow."
In Tokyo the greenback jumped by more than 1 per cent against the yen on suspected intervention on the last day of Japan's fiscal half year, although it quickly shed gains.
Japan's top financial diplomat Zembei Mizoguchi declined to comment on whether the Japanese authorities had intervened to stem the US dollar's fall after it slipped in early Asian trading to three-year lows below 110.70 yen.
By 5pm in Wellington the euro had risen to US$1.1627, from US$1.1447 last night, while the US dollar was at 111.01 yen (111.12).
On the crosses the kiwi was at A87.44c (A87.49c), 66.01 yen (65.36), 35.68 pence (35.45), 0.7870 Swiss Francs (0.7921), and 0.5114 euro (0.5133).
The Australian dollar was at $1.1436 ($1.1429).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 226 (197), the trade-weighted index was at 61.94 (61.61), and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.19 per cent (5.17).
The February 2005 Government bond yields were at 5.24 per cent (5.18), the November 2006s were at 5.42 per cent (5.38), and the November 2011s were at 5.75 per cent (5.68).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi makes hay while quarter ends
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