5.00pm
The New Zealand dollar was today nudging A90 cents and close to its highest level in nearly a year.
The kiwi closed on the cross at A89.94 compared to its opening of A89.67c.
The Australian dollar has been under pressure since Wednesday's surprisingly weak GDP figures.
Against the US dollar, the kiwi finished the week at US62.20c, slightly up on its US61.90c opening and US62.06c close yesterday.
The Australian dollar also made modest gains to US69.22c on the day but was still down on its US62.69c close yesterday.
Dealers doubt the kiwi will move much on the US dollar ahead of US payrolls data due tomorrow.
Against the aussie, the kiwi is picked to make further gains.
Westpac NZ chief dealer Basil Payn said the kiwi appeared to have reasonably solid support at US61.60-80c.
He said with the market talking of New Zealand putting its interest rates up again next week, the New Zealand cross rate was likely to strengthen further.
"It probably will continue to firm up over coming weeks."
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Ian Macfarlane claimed financial markets had overreacted to a drop in economic growth reported on Wednesday and current interest rates were near normal levels.
The remarks meant there was very little chance of lower interest rates this year, some economists said.
First-quarter gross domestic product expanded 0.2 per cent, down from the fourth-quarter's 1.3 per cent rise, the government said on Wednesday. The Australian dollar, which had been trading close to 71 US cents when the data was released, began to tumble and touched 68.44 cents yesterday after another report showed weaker house price growth.
"We have only lowered our forecasts in the mechanical sense that one of the four quarters is now lower than we forecast. It did not materially change our view," Mr Macfarlane said.
Meanwhile, the US dollar was trading at 111.09 yen (110.65), and the euro was buying US$1.2215 (US$1.2198).
On the other crosses, the kiwi was buying 0.5090 euros (0.5092), 33.89 British pence (33.88), 69.04 yen (68.66), 0.7777 Swiss francs (0.7769).
The trade-weighted index was at 63.52 (63.36), while the monetary conditions index was at plus 405 (418).
On the money market, 90-day bank bill yields were at 6.02 per cent (5.99), February 2006 bonds were at 5.87 per cent (5.86 per cent), July 2009s were static at 6.09 per cent, and April 2013s were at 6.19 per cent (6.20 per cent).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar nudging A90c
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