The New Zealand dollar fell after weak US data and speculation Spain's credit rating may be cut to junk eroded investors' appetite for higher-yielding, or riskier, assets.
The kiwi fell to 82.82 US cents at 8.30am from 82.97 cents on Friday in New York, and was little changed at 73.81 on a trade-weighted basis from 73.91 last week.
Wall Street's Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.5 per cent on Friday after the Chicago PMI showed shrinking activity last month and weaker-than-expected consumer confidence. Sentiment was dimmed by speculation Moody's Investors Service may cut Spain's government debt to junk.
The yield on Spain's benchmark 10-year government bond fell 1.3 basis points to 5.949 per cent. Investors were expecting Spain would seek a formal bailout for its ailing banking system ahead of stress testing last weekend, which showed the nation's lenders have a capital deficit of 59.3 billion euros.
"US data disappointed, and the fact Spain hasn't asked for a bailout and the rumours of a Spanish downgrade were all negatives," said Imre Speizer, market strategist at Westpac Banking in Auckland.
