THE dollar opened lower today but remained above parity with the US currency, after a slight rally in the greenback following positive US job figures.
At 7am (AEDT) today, the dollar was trading at US101.32c, down from Friday's close of US101.42c.
Since 5pm on Friday, the local unit traded between US100.86c and US101.83c, a new high for the currency post-float.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said the unit was well supported over the weekend session, dipping only slightly with the release of US job figures.
"For most of the session, we were consolidating last week's gains," Mr Jones said.
"US jobs numbers led to a mild firming in the US dollar, but for most of the session the Aussie maintained."
US employers added the most jobs in five months in October, with the education and health care sectors leading the way.
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But the unemployment rate, measured by a separate survey of households, remained stuck at 9.6 per cent for the third straight month.
The US Labour Department said on Friday its survey of employers showed a net gain of 151,000 jobs last month, the most since May.
Wall Street analysts had expected a smaller gain.
The local unit hit parity for the second time in a month on last week after US Federal Reserve agreed to spend $US600 billion ($592.83 billion) in Treasury securities through mid-2011 to keep a fragile recovery moving and ease high unemployment.
Mr Jones said investors would now focus on local employment data for September, due on Thursday. Economists are expecting the jobless rate somewhere between 5.1 and 5.3 per cent, broadly unchanged from 5.1 per cent in August.
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