Kiwi drags $A down to 88 US cents
The Australian dollar has fallen below 88 US cents, dragged down by a steep fall in New Zealand's currency and fewer job vacancies.
At 1700 AEST on Thursday, the local currency was trading at 88.05 US cents, down from 88.81 cents on Wednesday.
The local dollar hit a low of 87.96 US cents in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since February 4.
The New Zealand dollar tumbled when NZ Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler said its strength was "unjustified and unsustainable" given the decline in commodity prices.
He said they were "important considerations in assessing whether exchange rate intervention is feasible" along with whether on-market activity would be effective.
The comments sent the kiwi as low as 79.91 US cents, and the Australian dollar, also closely linked to commodity prices, fell at exactly the same time.
At 1700 AEST the Australian dollar was trading at 110.67 NZ cents, up from 109.87 NZ cents on Wednesday.
The Australian dollar was also at 96.19 Japanese yen, down from 96.48 yen, and at 69.13 euro cents, up from 69.11 euro cents.
ThinkForex senior market analyst Matt Simpson said the local currency was also weighed down by a fall in job vacancies in August, and comments from Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens reaffirming a consideration of macro-prudential tools to slow lending to property investors.
"With a lack of domestic news it is now over to the US to provide further movement tonight with employment and manufacturing data," he said.
Strong economic data would put further pressure on the Australian dollar, Mr Simpson said.
Meanwhile, bond futures prices rose.
At 1630 AEST, the December 2014 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.385 (implying a yield of 3.615 per cent), up from 96.350 (3.650 per cent) on Wednesday.
The December 2014 three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.170 (2.830 per cent), up from 97.140 (2.860 per cent) on Wednesday.
