The New Zealand dollar was more than half a US cent stronger than yesterday.
Peter Cavanaugh from Bancorp Treasury Services said the currency would be higher if Fonterra had not cut its forecast milk payout to farmers to $4.70 per kilo of milk solids from $5.30 previously.
About 5.30pm today, the dollar was trading at 76.8 US cents, down from the overnight high of 77.6 cents. It was 92.61 Australian, 49 British pence, 0.6202 euro, 91.61 yen and 4.75 renminbi.
The New Zealand sharemarket was lower, with the benchmark Top 50 Index down 19 points to 5524.
Spark's share price rose 11 cents to $3.14, Mainfreight was up 20 cents to $15.50 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 4 cents to $6.07.
The Fonterra fund rose 1 cent to $6.18, while the co-operative rose 1 cent to $6.17.
Skellerup fell 5 cents to $1.44.
