Dollar slips as all eyes on Europe

The New Zealand dollar slipped during local trading as investors prepared to wait a little longer for details of a bailout package to rescue the eurozone, which are expected to overshadow fiscal, inflation and Reserve Bank official cash rate announcements due next week.

The dollar fell to US79.17c at 5pm from US79.47c at 8am, though it was still up from US78.93c on Thursday.

Investors waiting for answers from Monday's European Summit won't get any resolution until Thursday after the region's leaders said they would hold a second meeting to agree on measures to shore up the eurozone's banking system and ease the threat of contagious sovereign debt.

The dollar crept up to A77.56c from A77.44c and rose to 60.77 from 60.59 on Thursday. It was little changed at €57.45c from €57.52c and recently traded at 50.11p from 50.17p on Thursday.

The trade-weighted index was at 69.39 from 69.32 on Thursday.

US 79.17c
What the NZ dollar was buying at 5pm