Dollar fires up after weak US jobs numbers The Australian dollar has retained some of its gains after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report saw it rise to its highest levels in a month. The local currency, which was trading at as low as US88.89¢ before the data was released, rose by US1¢ in offshore trade on Friday. It pushed higher again on Monday, to buy $US90.31¢ in late local trade. "There's nothing like a shock US payrolls to get the Aussie fired up," said Westpac senior currency strategist Sean Callow. We are very close to one-month highs and the Aussie seems to be in a good position to build in its gains. Local housing finance figures released on Monday strengthened the case that the Australian economy remained resilient, FXCM analyst David de Ferranti said. He expected the Australian dollar to bounce higher in the short term as traders who were holding short positions on the currency booked profits. "Traders are questioning the possibility of further declines in the exchange rate over the near term, given that it appears the RBA may have reached the end of its easing cycle," Mr De Ferranti said. This comes in light of recent upside surprises to domestic economic data. The latest data came as HSBC's economists said the strengthening New Zealand economy could see the New Zealand dollar appreciate to $US87¢ by the end of the year, and even surpass parity against the Australian currency for the first time in more than four decades. The Australian dollar was buying $NZ108.41 late Monday. "Our currency strategists expect the New Zealand dollar to appreciate through 2014, supported by elevated commodity prices and strong growth," HSBC economists Adam Richardson and Paul Bloxham said. At the same time, the New Zealand economy is likely to outperform Australia's economy, and this could see the New Zealand dollar-Australian dollar cross rate reach parity sometime in 2014. OzForex chief currency strategist Jim Vrondas said parity between the two currencies could be a possibility if the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raising interest rates this month and if the RBA, which will hold its first board meeting for the year in February, maintains its easing bias over the next few months. ""With the Kiwi at US83¢ and the Aussie at US90¢, it's not too far off. If the New Zealand-Australian dollar and the Australian-US dollar cross both get to US85¢ then this means parity,"" Mr Vrondas said. Macquarie Bank currency strategist David Forrester said the movements in the Australian dollar would continue to be determined by the economic news coming out of the US, adding that it was not surprising to see the currency squeeze higher. "We were not far from record short in the Aussie [against] the US dollar before the payrolls data last week," Mr Forrester said, adding that he expected the local currency to edge higher towards its 50-day average of US91¢ where it could then encounter some resistance. The market is expected to closely watched the details in the Federal Reserve's "Beige Book," which will be released on Thursday AEST and which will contain a snapshot of US economic conditions from the central bank's 12 regions. Outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is also set to speak on "The Fed Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. on Friday morning AEST. In local economic data, the Bureau of Statistics is set to release its jobless figures for December on Thursday. Mr Forrester said while the domestic unemployment report would be important for the movement of the Australian dollar on the day, expectations were that the data would continue to be soft and that the figures would not have a big influence on the currency's broader trend, which would remain US-driven. At the same time, the disappointing non-farm payrolls, which missed economists" forecasts, increased expectations in financial markets that the Fed could eased its wind-back of its monthly bond-buying programs, which has supported risky assets such the Australian dollar. "The Fed is still likely to taper at its January meeting but there is a little bit of a question mark over the pace of tapering over the next few months and what it means for the US economy," Mr Callow said.