The New Zealand dollar fell after US House of Representatives Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner dashed optimism politicians were getting closer to avoiding the fiscal cliff.
The kiwi fell to 82.24 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 82.41 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index declined to 73.58 from 73.74 yesterday.
Investors eschewed risk-sensitive currencies such as the kiwi and Australian dollars after Boehner said US President Barack Obama has to get "serious" about spending cuts and that "there is a real danger of going off the fiscal cliff".
Boehner made the comments after speaking with Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner over ways to avert the automatic US$607 billion in tax increases and spending cuts which kick in on January 1.
"Investors were checking their optimism following the Boehner comments," said Mike Jones, currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington. "That downbeat sentiment was reflected in the kiwi and Aussie."