The New Zealand dollar recovered a little of the ground lost after a rapid fall overnight yesterday from above US60c.
By 5pm the kiwi was at US58.64c from US59.67c on Monday, having peaked at US60.43c overnight.
The move was less dramatic against the aussie, with the kiwi upa little at A87.30c from A87.17c.
The kiwi was lower against the euro, yen and sterling, and lost ground on the trade weighted index to 59.33 from 60 on Monday.
The overnight selling was triggered by a wave of bad financial news from the United States which caused a slide in US equities. A warning that the Australian economy was headed for recession also weighed.
Westpac's Michael Gordon said the kiwi was likely to find some buyers, but in the longer term the US dollar would find renewed lift from more easing by central banks and big growth downgrades outside the US.
The US dollar rose against a basket of currencies but slipped against the yen, which rebounded from the previous day's losses on optimism over the AIG rescue and China's stimulus package.
