The New Zealand dollar closed on its lows yesterday in quiet trade affected by Asian holidays.
At 5pm the kiwi was at US41.95c from US42.04c at Monday's close. Dealers said the unit traded a narrow US41.94c to US42.07c range throughout the session.
"It has really been a day of consolidation," one local dealer said.
"We are closing on the lows for the day but it has been such a quiet range anyway that it is pretty much a non-event."
Many Asian investors are out of the picture until Thursday or Friday as they take time out to mark the Lunar New Year, putting a dampener on local activity, the dealer said.
"With most of Asia out today and the next couple of days I guess we'll end up having pretty quiet days during the course of our session anyway."
Reaction to today's better-than-expected retail sales figures was non-existent.
Statistics New Zealand said retail sales in December increased by 0.8 per cent over November, nearly three times the 0.3 per cent increase forecast by economists.
Dealers expected the kiwi to range between US41.90c and US42.10c overnight.
"We have consolidated the gains we have made lately without really being able to carry on through. We still need to see a confirmation of this move by a break through US42.20c and maybe the Australian dollar breaking through US51.30c before we get too excited," one dealer said.
The Australian dollar ended the local session at US51.18c (US51.22c at Monday's close).
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was at A81.97c (A82.08c at yesterday's close), 55.93 yen (56.65), 29.47 pence (29.67), 0.7057 Swiss francs (0.7102), and 0.4781 euro (0.4815). The aussie traded at $NZ1.2201 from $NZ1.2184 yesterday.
The trade weighted index was at 51.10 (51.39), the monetary conditions index was at minus 765 (minus 736), and 90-day bank bills were steady at 4.90 per cent.
On the debt market, March 2002 bonds were at 4.73 per cent (4.75), April 2004s were at 5.81 (5.82), November 2006s were at 6.35 per cent (6.35), and November 2011s were flat at 6.60 per cent.
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi closes on its lows
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