The New Zealand dollar beat down the door of US60c today, a fresh and psychologically important 5-1/2 year high.
At 5pm the New Zealand dollar was buying US59.85c, up from US59.46c on Friday, before climbing further to US60.07c by 5.30pm.
The aussie rose to US68.31c from Friday's US68.19c.
Westpac currency strategist Johnathan Bayley said the kiwi was likely to climb higher overnight after earlier broaching US60c.
"It has had the technical breaks recently through the top of the six-week range, through the US59.22c resistance level, and today through the big psychological resistance of US60c.
"That top-side break alone would be enough to generate further momentum-driven demand.
"It's (also) still a very yield-driven demand," Mr Bayley said.
"Generally, the kiwi continues to do well on the crosses, notably holding its ground against the Australian dollar despite last week's Reserve Bank of Australia result (to hold interest rates unchanged).
"Overnight, we should continue higher. It wouldn't surprise me to see it trading back over US60c, up towards US60.20c. On the week it could trade as high as US60.50c," Mr Bayley said.
"The interesting thing is it was taken out very easily, given that big figures normally provide at least psychological resistance."
In Tokyo the greenback held steady against the yen and euro today, trading within tight ranges as the market watched moves in Japanese stocks and bonds and awaited earnings results from US companies.
For the euro, the market was awaiting the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday though most analysts did not expect a rate cut.
By 5pm in Wellington the euro eased to $US1.1453 from $US1.1469 late on Friday, while the US dollar also eased to buy 118.07 yen (118.37).
The kiwi also appreciated against other key currencies today to buy A87.62c (A87.20c on Friday) by 5pm, 70.67 yen (70.39), 35.94 pence (35.65), 0.8095 Swiss francs (0.8039), and 0.5226 euro (0.5185).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 328 (301), the trade-weighted index jumped to 63.25 (62.86) and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.16 per cent (5.21).
The February 2005 yields were at 4.84 per cent (4.86), the November 2006s were at 4.99 per cent (5.01), and the November 2011s were at 5.36 per cent (5.39).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi storms US60c, looks set to rise further
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