The New Zealand dollar slipped against the greenback ahead of the Federal Reserve's regional outlook, known as the beige book, and US manufacturing figures, both of which will likely show more strength in the world's biggest economy.
The kiwi fell to 83.36 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.77 cents at 8am and 83.70 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index was 78.87 at 5pm from 78.82 yesterday, having pushed near a post-float high earlier in the day.
The Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of currencies, extended gains in local trading, and was recently at 80.86, having found support with better than expected consumer spending figures yesterday. That comes ahead of the Fed's beige book and the New York Empire manufacturing survey, which will be looked on for signs of strength after a disappointing employment figures last Friday, which some analysts have put down to the harsh winter conditions.
"People will be looking for signs of continued US strength and/or signs of weather distortions," said Sam Tuck, senior FX strategist at ANZ New Zealand in Auckland. "There's potential (for more US dollar strength) unless we see distortions in the January data" which would weigh on the kiwi in the short-term, he said.
Government figures today showed food prices slipped in December for their third monthly decline, ahead of the release of the fourth quarter consumer price index next week. Investors are keeping a close watch on New Zealand's pace of inflation, which may spur an early rate hike by the Reserve Bank if it starts accelerating too much.
