The New Zealand dollar was at 2-1/2-month highs yesterday despite the lack of action.
By 5pm the kiwi traded at US48.10c, last seen in mid-July and well up on its US47.68c close on Friday.
The Australian dollar was at US54.90c, compared with Friday's close of US54.65c.
Trading on both sides of the Tasman was quiet with a Labour Day holiday in three Australian states exacerbating the usual Monday malaise.
One local dealer said the kiwi had hit a high of US48.16c during the day, and a low of US47.87c.
"It got off to a pretty quiet start and then there was a bit of buying interest in both the aussie and the kiwi, and the cross has been pretty steady throughout the day.
"There's a renewed interest in both currencies, a reduction of risk aversion possibly."The kiwi's rise was not simply the inverse of a falling US dollar, he said.
"(The greenback)'s not actually that weak, it's stronger against the euro and the Japanese yen.
"In Wellington the US dollar was buying 123.53 yen, compared with 122.85 yen on Friday, while the euro was at US97.86c (US98.63c). He picked the kiwi to trade between US47.95c and US48.30c overnight.
In offshore trade, the market was nervous about bidding too strongly on the US dollar after a French supertanker caught fire off Yemen, raising fears that it had been attacked. The greenback dollar remained on the upward trend established in US trade after the US unemployment rate fell for a second month in September to 5.6 per cent from 5.7 per cent.
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was at A87.62c against its A87.26c close on Friday, 0.4915 euro (0.4834), 59.41 yen, 0.3076 pence (0.3038), and 0.7184 Swiss francs (0.7059).
The aussie was buying $1.1415 compared with $1.1463 at Friday's close.
The trade-weighted index rose to 55.35 from 54.74 on Friday, its highest level since July.
The 90-day bill yields eased to 5.85 per cent from 5.88 per cent and the monetary conditions index tightened to minus 268 from minus 324 at Friday's close.
In the bond market, the April 2004 bond yields were at 5.60 per cent (5.63 per cent), the November 2006 yield was at 5.91 per cent (5.92 per cent), and the November 2011 bonds were unchanged at 6.14 per cent.
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi on the rise
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