KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar sat on its gains made overnight, barely moving in a 20-point range against the greenback and inching up on the Australian dollar.
By 5pm, the kiwi was at US77.20c, little changed from US77.15c late yesterday. Against the Aussie, the kiwi was at A79.10c from A78.92c, and the currency was slightly firmer against the euro, yen and sterling.
"No stats out today. We were surprised when we came in the (Australian) cross had moved in New Zealand's favour overnight - but other than that we've basically traded in a narrow range all day," one dealer said.
"Been supported on the back of buying in the Aussie early out of Australia which has kept the kiwi up basically."
Yesterday, the kiwi bounded back over US77c against a US dollar hit by concern about US finance houses, the housing market and the economy.
The kiwi has strengthened despite speculation the Reserve Bank could cut interest rates as early as next week. Australia's central bank governor has also indicated the next interest rate move across the Tasman could be down, rather than up.
The US dollar dipped today after a report that sovereign wealth funds were seeking to reduce their exposure to the US currency, taking some wind out of its rebound the previous day on tumbling oil prices and rallying stocks.
Analysts said the report in the Financial Times highlighted the gradual shift away from the US dollar that has been taking place the past few years and helped fuel its slide to record lows against the euro.
Reuters currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US77.20c US77.15c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A79.10c A78.92c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4870 0.4851
NZ dlr/yen 81.01 80.64
NZ dlr/stg 38.58p 38.51p
NZ TWI 68.16 68.00
Australian dollar US97.60c US97.79c
Euro/US dollar 1.5855 1.5907
US dollar/yen 104.93 104.56
- NZPA
