NZ dollar falls from 10-month high as Aussie data awaited

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The New Zealand dollar fell from the 10-month high it reached in New York on Friday as investors await offshore events for direction, in particular in Australia.

The kiwi traded at 74.32 US cents as at 5pm versus 74.39 US cents as at 8am in Wellington after it touched 74.61 cents in New York on Friday, the highest since September last year. The trade-weighted index slipped to 78.51 from a month-high 78.82 in New York on Friday.

"It's drifting off a little bit but we are very much awaiting news flow from offshore," said ANZ senior economist Phil Borkin. "We think the New Zealand dollar is running low on air at these levels but we acknowledge that price action has been very strong and the US dollar is unloved," he added.

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He said Australia is a key focus this week for the kiwi, with the Australia due to publish second quarter consumer price on Wednesday while Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe is due to deliver a speech titled "The Labor Market and Monetary Policy" on the same day.

The kiwi rose to 93.78 Australian cents from 93.74 Australian cents on Friday in New York,

The US Federal Reserve's meeting this week will also garner attention. "Given the recent inflation softness the expectation is that the Fed softens its stance a little bit which isn't going to help the US dollar," said Borkin.

Domestically, there will be interest in a speech by Reserve Bank assistant governor and head of economics John McDermott, also on Wednesday. McDermott is scheduled to speak on economic trends and how they help implement the Bank's flexible inflation targeting framework.

The kiwi traded at 63.68 euro cents from 63.67 cents in New York on Friday and at 82.50 yen from 82.54 yen. It traded at 57.09 British pence from 57.18 pence and at 5.0237 yuan from 5.0274 yuan.

New Zealand's two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.21 per cent while the 10-year swaps were unchanged at 3.26 per cent.