NZ dollar slips from post-float high, Greek optimism caps slide

The New Zealand dollar slipped from a post-float high though its slide was capped by optimism Greece will avoid defaulting on its debt.

Investor appetite for higher yielding, or riskier assets, remained high in the offshore session after Greece passed its second tranche of austerity bills. That saw global equities rally for a fourth day, with the Standard & Poor's closing 1 per cent higher to 1,320.64, and Europe's Stoxx 600 gaining 1.1 to 276.86, its highest level in just under a month.

"The Greek crisis has been pushed from the headlines for now, and that's provided some optimism for markets, with the commodity currencies all benefitting from the return of risk," said Khoon Goh, head of market economics and strategy at ANZ New Zealand.

Investor sentiment was also bolstered by the Institute of Supply Management-Chicago data which showed factory activity in the US Midwest had accelerated in June, with its business barometer now reading 61.1, up from 56.6 in May.

The release sets the stage for the national ISM Manufacturing Index data for June, which is expected after the close of the local market today.

"The Chicago ISM data is lending some support to the argument that the US economy is seeing a temporary slowdown," Goh said. "If that's the case we can expect to see an improvement in the data from here on in."

The kiwi recently traded at 82.83 US cents, little changed from 82.86 cents yesterday when it reached as high as 83.19 cents. The currency fell to 71.19 on the trade-weighted index of major trading partners' currencies from 71.25.

It eased to 77.19 Australian cents from 77.20 cents yesterday, and gained to 66.65 yen from 66.59 yen. It fell to 57.02 euro cents from 57.21 cents yesterday, and dropped to 51.54 pence from 51.71 pence previously.

The kiwi may trade between a range of 82.20 US cents and 83 cents, Goh said, with the currency to remain range bound ahead of the ISM data tonight.