The New Zealand dollar finished the year on a fresh 6-1/4 year high thanks to continued weakness in its United States counterpart, a broker said.
At 5pm, the kiwi was fetching US65.62c (from US65.19c at the same time last night), having traded between US65.38c and US65.65c, its highest since August 1997.
The Australian dollar was at US75.03 (US74.49c), also its highest since August 1997.
A BNZ currency spokesman said once again weakness in the greenback had spurred commodity currencies like the kiwi and aussie to fresh levels.
"It's more of the same -- the US dollar is petering out to a weak close for the year," he said.
"In a yearly context I would say the kiwi is one of the top performing currencies.
"Its high yield is attractive, and it has been one of the favoured options as a short US dollar position for investors."
On January 2, the kiwi closed at US52.24c, meaning it had risen 25 per cent in the year to December 31.
However, the broker warned against investors assuming the kiwi would hike up to US70c on the back of US dollar weakness next year.
"When people become complacent about the next (currency) move I just think the contrary might come in to play," he said.
Meanwhile, the euro was at US$1.2475 (US$1.2494), its highest since December 1996, and the greenback was buying 106.92 yen (107.04), a three-week low.
On the crosses, the New Zealand dollar was buying A87.47c (A87.52c), 0.5218 euro (0.5218), 70.16 yen (69.72), 36.84 pence (36.76), and 0.8140 Swiss francs (0.8147).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 508 (489), the trade-weighted index was at 65.29 (65.08), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.37 per cent (5.36).
On the debt market, April 2004 bonds were at 5.14 per cent (5.15), February 2006s were at 5.62 per cent (5.61), and November 2011s were at 5.90 per cent (5.89).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi pushes to fresh multi-year highs on Greenback weakness
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