The New Zealand dollar eased slightly in today's local session, after riding the euro's coat-tails higher last night.
At 5pm tonight, the kiwi was buying US66.70c (from US66.37c at 5pm last night), having reached as high as US66.82c. The Australian dollar was at US76.52c (US76.14c).
Last night, the euro hit a one-week high against the greenback after the European Central Bank (ECB) held its benchmark interest rate at 2.0 per cent.
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet indicated the bank was in no hurry to cut interest rates and that its stance was in line with price stability.
Mr Trichet also said there was more than enough liquidity in the Euro zone for inflation-free growth.
But the kiwi could be hit by the latest non-farm payroll figures due out of the United States overnight.
Chief foreign exchange dealer at ANZ Investment Bank Murray Hindley, said the data was crucial.
Strong numbers were likely to be greenback-positive as they would back up market views of long-term growth in the US economy.
But Mr Hindley said if the US payroll numbers were disappointing, the kiwi could push up over the US67c.
Meanwhile, the US dollar was fetching 104.06 yen (104.18) at 5pm tonight, and the euro was buying US$1.2362 (US$1.2277).
On the crosses, the kiwi was buying A87.19c (A87.18c), 0.5396 euro (0.5405), 69.37 yen (69.13), 35.97 British pence (36.00), and 84.24 Swiss francs (0.8421).
The trade-weighted index was at 65.87 (65.76), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 567 (559).
Ninety-day bank bill yields were at 5.53 per cent (5.54).
The February 2006 yields were at 5.36 per cent (5.32), July 2009s were at 5.64 per cent (5.58), and April 2013s were at 5.81 per cent (5.74).
- NZPA
<I>Currency:</I> Kiwi waits on US data
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