The New Zealand dollar declined as the greenback strengthened on optimism the US economy will rebound after a weak first quarter, and as the kiwi is weighed down by expectations local interest rates will fall.
The kiwi slipped to 73.73 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 74.33 cents at 5pm yesterday.
The trade-weighted index dropped to 75.96 from 76.29 yesterday.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, gained after the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published research yesterday saying the US economy is probably not as weak as current estimates suggest, bolstering the argument for raising US interest rates.
The New Zealand dollar remains weak ahead of the Reserve Bank's second quarter survey of inflation expectations today, which is expected to strengthen the case for local interest rate cuts.
"The San Francisco Fed published a paper that further reinforced the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee view that first quarter GDP (gross domestic product) weakness was seasonal in nature, helping to support the US dollar," ANZ Bank New Zealand senior economist Mark Smith and senior FX strategist Sam Tuck said in a note.