KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar traded narrowly in thin volume as Australia and some Asian markets went on holiday.
The NZ dollar moved in a 20-point range and ended little changed against the greenback, at US76.81c, versus US76.74c at Friday's local close.
It recovered slightly after data showed a drop in March quarter building figures and easing house prices for May.
The story was similar against the Australian dollar, with the NZ dollar buying A79.91c from A79.84c on Friday. The cross tumbled A1.5c to a seven year low on Friday, following a signal from the New Zealand central bank that it would start cutting interest rates this year.
Although the kiwi-aussie cross was a little stronger today, ANZ Institutional Bank dealer Murray Hindley said the kiwi was "still losing ground against the euro and the aussie but pretty much looking to key data at the end of the week."
All eyes were on retail sales figures out on Friday and food prices on Thursday, which would help clarify whether the economy was continuing to soften, he said.
In the US, the greenback clawed back some of its sharp losses against the yen after Friday's jump in the US jobless rate and a fresh high in oil prices.
The euro held Friday's 1 per cent gain after indications last week that euro-zone interest rate rises were on the way.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said the NZ dollar was the worst performing currency last week, falling 1.8 per cent against the greenback, nearly 3 per cent against the aussie and about 2 per cent on a trade weighted basis.
Reuters currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US76.81c US76.74c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A79.91c A79.84c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4868 0.4926
NZ dlr/yen 80.90 81.42
NZ dlr/stg 39.01p 39.17p
NZ TWI 68.22 68.50
Australian dollar US96.12c US95.97c
Euro/US dollar 1.5781 1.5581
US dollar/yen 105.32 106.08
- NZPA
