The New Zealand dollar followed the aussie down, depressed by a confident United States dollar.
The kiwi closed at 42.85USc, off its Friday close of 43USc and its New York close of 43.13USc, its highest level since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Another month of steady retail sales had no major effect on the kiwi, which faces a week of solid data.
Dealers said a rising greenback weakened most currencies after stronger than expected US jobs data. The aussie closed at 52.08USc, off its 52.50c close last Friday.
Strengthening belief in a US-led economic recovery was likely to keep the kiwi capped for some time, especially if protectionist measures - such as the introduction of US tariffs on imported steel - continued, Tim Robinson, a dealer with Deutsche Bank, said.
"A lot of people are looking at it on the back of strong world growth and commodities improving but for me, if the US is going to lead us out into the light, that's not a negative US dollar.
"I just can't see (protectionism) as a positive for small exporting nations, so I can't see the kiwi breaking out of its 41.30-43.30USc range."
Overnight he expected the kiwi to trade between 42.60-42.90USc.
Against the aussie, the New Zealand dollar closed at 82.29Ac, easing from a strong opening yesterday morning but well up on its close of 81.91Ac last week.
"The kiwi/aussie pushing through up to 82.40Ac is definitely attracting importer interest," Mr Robinson noted.
"We've seen people up there starting to let some go and I think that's a very valid trade. I think fair range over the next six months for the kiwi/aussie is 79c-82c, not above 82c."
The trade weighted index was at 51.70 (51.68), the monetary conditions index firmed to minus 670 (minus 677), and 90-day bank bills were at 5.22 per cent (5.20).
On the debt market yields continued to rise with the April 2004 bonds at 5.94 per cent (5.93), the November 2006s at 6.62 per cent (6.61), and the November 2011s at 6.90 per cent (6.89).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Rising greenback hurts kiwi
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