Exporters are likely to be fuming after the kiwi today rose to a five month high against the yen, the US and Australian dollars, and a four month high against the euro.
The NZ dollar has gained more than 5 per cent this month from its low point.
It pushed above US65c this morning and tracked higher to end on US65.15c from US64.57c yesterday.
It rose on yield-related demand and was underpinned by strong building data yesterday that economists argue will delay any easing by the Reserve Bank.
The pattern was similar against the Australian dollar, with the NZ dollar ending the best part of a cent higher at A85.51c from A84.72c yesterday.
Against the euro, the kiwi rose to 0.5080 from 0.5032.
The TWI finished up on 65.11 from 64.48 yesterday.
ANZ bank today said, given the trend, the door looked open for the kiwi to grind higher.
The cross against the aussie was being affected by growing awareness of the Australian drought, the bank said.
In major markets, the yen hit a record low against the euro after Japanese industrial output figures came in below forecasts and reinforced expectations the Bank of Japan will take time raising interest rates.
Against the kiwi, the yen fell to 76.48 from 75.42 yesterday.
"The market is still performing based on interest rate differentials," said Kikuko Takeda, currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Providing support for the euro were expectations that the European Central Bank at a meeting later in the day could signal higher rates are in store for the euro zone.
After hiking to 3 per cent at the start the month, the ECB is not expected to boost rates tomorrow. Instead investors are focused on what ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet has to say after the meeting about prospects for another rise at the next gathering in October.
Analysts are looking for Mr Trichet to tweak his language to say that the ECB will be vigilant against inflation risks from its current position of watching prices "very closely".
Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm Wednesday
NZ dlr/US dlr US65.15c US64.57c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A85.51c A84.72c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5080 0.5032
NZ dlr/yen 76.48 75.42
NZ dlr/stg 34.22p 34.01p
NZ TWI 65.11 64.48
Australian dollar US76.16c US76.24c
Euro/US dollar 1.2824 1.2834
US dollar/yen 117.36 116.78
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar hits five month high
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