The New Zealand dollar edged lower after Chinese stocks recovered from a sharp decline that sapped investors' appetite for risk-sensitive assets around the world.
The kiwi declined to 67.39 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 67.42 cents at 8am, and 67.51 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted fell to 73.55 from 74.19 yesterday.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4 percent in afternoon trading, allaying fears of another rout after China's benchmark stock index fell 7 percent yesterday, triggering a trading halt.
That calm comes ahead of the first GlobalDairyTrade auction of the year. A slump in whole milk powder prices in 2015 eroded New Zealand's terms of trade, prompting interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank.
"The market hinged on what Shanghai's doing - it opened down 3 percent, but is now up which is probably a welcome relief in terms of risk," said Martin Johnson, senior dealer foreign exchange at OMF in Wellington.