NZ dollar little changed today

The New Zealand dollar limped along today, barely moving in an absence of major events.

The kiwi was worth US70.20c at 5pm today, little changed from US70.26c at the same time yesterday.

The dollar traded in a US0.17 cent range and essentially went sideways with a lack of any events overnight, said Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer.

With no significant local data today the dollar was in a "wait and see" market, he said.

There were big events hovering in the background, such as Europe and US monetary policy, but within that markets looked for specific events looked for things they could "touch and feel to provide a catalyst for the next day's move and we didn't get any of those last night", he said.

Against the Australian the kiwi lifted slightly to A77.99c at 5pm from A77.90c yesterday and was also up to 0.5155 euro from 0.5146.

It was down to 63.90 Japanese yen from 64.36 and also down to 45.24p against the British pound, from 45.36p.

The trade weighted index slipped to 65.04 from 65.11.

Meanwhile, the US dollar consolidated on Tuesday with traders on the sidelines on speculation the Federal Reserve would hose down talk of early monetary tightening, leading some investors to steer clear of the greenback.

In early Asian trade, the US dollar index was flat at 80.526, staying well off its recent 8-mth highs. The euro was steady at $1.3598 from late in New York on Monday when it lost some ground.

The euro inched up on the yen to 124.12 yen, having lost over 0.6 per cent on Monday after a German Finance Ministry spokesman said that the country has made no decisions on a lifeline for Greece.

The dollar pared some of its losses on the yen, rising to 91.25 yen, from 91.11 yen late on New York. Near term resistance is seen around 92.15 yen -the one-month high struck last week.

- NZPA