KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar stuck to a narrow range during trading today, treading water ahead of key US employment data expected later.
ANZ Investment Bank senior dealer Mark Elliott said the kiwi was directionless, trading between US75.31c and US75.75c.
"It's a little bit higher than yesterday as there was a sell-off in the US dollar," he said. By 5pm, the kiwi was at US75.61c from US75.27c late yesterday afternoon.
"The market's just repositioning itself ahead of tonight's non-farm payrolls number," Mr Elliott said.
Against the Aussie, the kiwi eased to A85.09c from A85.33c yesterday, and it fell to 88.05 yen from 88.87 yen.
The US dollar steadied above a record low against the euro and a basket of currencies as investors expected the crucial US September jobs report to keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates for the second time later this month.
Traders said a US jobs growth figure below the median expectation of 100,000 may reignite a US dollar-selling trend triggered last month after the Fed slashed its interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.75 per cent.
August payrolls data shocked the market by showing 4000 jobs outside the farm sector were lost, the first drop in monthly hiring in four years.
The euro recovered as the European Central Bank kept its focus on inflation after leaving its interest rates unchanged on Thursday.
The Bank of England also kept interest rates unchanged as widely expected at 5.75 per cent.
Activity was subdued ahead of a long weekend, with Japanese financial markets closed on Monday for a national holiday.
Reuters currency rates
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US75.61c US75.27c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A85.09c A85.33c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5348 0.5343
NZ dlr/yen 88.05 88.87
NZ dlr/stg 37.08p 37.07p
NZ TWI 71.12 71.00
Australian dollar US88.87c US88.22c
Euro/US dollar 1.4139 1.4088
US dollar/yen 116.45 116.59
- NZPA