The New Zealand Dollar pushed up towards US71c overnight but was unable to hold its own against the greenback, even as the US currency itself was softening.
By 8am today the kiwi was buying US70.44c, little changed from its level at 5pm yesterday and after having been up near US70.90c earlier today.
The US dollar dropped against the yen as US financial shares dragged equity markets lower on persistent credit concerns, which prompted investors to reduce risk.
Lehman Brothers shares fell more than 7 percent after a top South Korean regulator voiced concern about state-run Korea Development Bank's interest in buying a global bank. KDB on Friday had named Lehman as one of its options for an overseas acquisition.
The decline in the attractiveness of US assets reduced demand for the US dollars to buy them while simultaneously pushing investors into investments perceived as less risky, such as the yen.
The NZ dollar also fell against the Japanese currency to be at 77.01 yen by 8am from 77.64 at 5pm yesterday.
ANZ bank said that increasing opportunities for Japanese investors may push New Zealand off the podium as the place to be.
Against the greenback, further tentative tests of support would unfold for the NZ dollar today, ANZ said.
It expected selling interests to intensify if the kiwi moved closer to US71c, while buyers were patiently waiting moves close to US70c.
The overnight easing of the kiwi also showed up against the EURO, with the NZ dollar buying 0.4774 euro at today's local open from 0.4790 at 5pm yesterday.
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was marginally lower at A81.61c, while the trade weighted index was 65.67 at 8am from 65.86 at 5pm.