A predictable call on interest rates today from the Reserve Bank - no change - had the New Zealand dollar end the day where it started.
By 5pm the kiwi was at US56.90c, up from US56.60c late yesterday but unchanged from its 7.30am level, while the aussie rose to US64.03c (US63.73c)
One local dealer said the kiwi, having been "fickle" during the day, was likely to trade between US56.60c and US57.10c overnight.
The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Statement, which left the cash rate unchanged at 5.0 per cent, included comments seen by the market as slightly more hawkish than expected.
"The kiwi's had absolutely no response to the MPS," the dealer said.
"We've seen a reasonable-size range, down to US56.59 and up to US57.02c. To be honest it was very, very thin trading ... drifting down then drifting back up without too much exciting going on," he said.
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard today left the official cash rate (OCR) unchanged despite a cooling economy and barely perceptible inflation.
Dr Bollard has cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point three times this year, but in his quarterly MPS he signalled the easing cycle may have run its course.
In Tokyo today the yen fell more than 1 per cent from multi-month highs against the greenback and the euro after Japanese authorities apparently conducted yen-selling intervention.
Traders said the Bank of Japan, as an agent for the ministry, was selling yen to stem the currency's export-damaging strength.
In Wellington at 5pm the US dollar recovered to 116.79, up from 115.92 yen this morning and from 116.29 yen late yesterday. The euro was at US$1.0837 (US$1.0783).
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was buying A88.88c (A88.82c), 66.46 yen (65.82 yen), 36.25 pence (36.19), 0.8059 Swiss francs (0.8050), and 0.5253 euro (0.5252).
The Australian dollar slipped to $1.1252 ($1.1254).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 203 (186), the trade-weighted index was at 61.70 (61.50) and 90-day bank bill yields were unchanged at 5.14 per cent.
The February 2005 yields were at 5.44 per cent (5.39), the November 2006s were at 5.70 per cent (5.66), and the November 2011s were at 6.07 per cent (6.05).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi back at square one after no-change from Reserve Bank
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