NZ dollar falls short on investor caution

The New Zealand dollar yielded much of today's small gain against the greenback and euro as markets waited for more companies in the United States to start reporting second-quarter earnings results.

By 5pm, the kiwi was buying US71.17c, slightly ahead of its morning level and well above its US70.88c level at the same time yesterday. It reached a high of US71.45 this afternoon, according to Reuters data.

Against the euro, the kiwi was still near two-week highs at 0.5651, from 0.5623 euro late yesterday afternoon.

The NZ dollar continued grinding higher against the Australian currency, and by 5pm was at A81.50c from A81.05c late yesterday. The currency made a little ground against sterling to be at 47.36p, and was at 63.02 yen from 63.10.

The trade weighted index rose to 67.71 from 67.47 at 5pm.

ANZ Bank said currency markets, similar to equity markets, remained almost stationary overnight waiting for US earnings releases.

Another factor was cooling risk appetite on the Shanghai sharemarket.

The euro held below its two-month highs against the US dollar as investors remained cautious about being caught out during the release of US company data. Debt-laden Greece's first return to capital markets since April was also influencing investor sentiment.

- NZPA