Kiwi gives up early gains, remains little changed

The New Zealand dollar gave up earlier gains to close unchanged today, remaining firmly within the range travelled in recent weeks as the global appetite for risk eased.

By 5pm, the kiwi was at US69.91c, virtually unmoved from its level at the same time yesterday, but down from a two-week high around US70.35c early this morning.

"Over the last few weeks, the kiwi has been in a range-trade and volumes have decreased as the market is very uncertain as to which direction we'll have next," said Daniel Brdanovic, HSBC chief manager.

The kiwi was stuck in a broader range of US68c and US71.50c.

There was little interest from corporate or institutional investors, who needed the kiwi to break out of its range to prompt decisions about their hedging or investments.

"The market seems to be very nervous as to what are the risks out there," Mr Brdanovic said.

The lack of risk appetite was also affecting world equity and commodity markets, on fears that a crisis in Greece could lead to a new global financial meltdown.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was steady at A76.84c, while it firmed slightly against the euro to 0.5127 euro. The kiwi was a touch weaker against the Japanese yen at 62.92, but had firmed to 46.54 pence.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand releases its next interest rate decision at its Monetary Police Statement on Thursday. The central bank is expected to leave the official cash rate at 2.50 per cent.

- NZPA