The New Zealand dollar finished the week still mired around US49c having failed to capitalise on a run up earlier.
At 5pm the kiwi was trading at US48.91c, down on yesterday's close of US49.15c. The Australian dollar was buying US56.66c, falling further from its close at US56.82c.
Richard Marshall of ANZ Investment Bank said the kiwi had traded in a range of US48.73/97c.
"It's closing on a bid note, there's been some buying out of Australia and Asia towards the close. It was looking a bit soggy all day but now it's looking bid.
"I suspect we might have a probe at the US49c area (over the weekend). It might get up to US49.10c, but I would have thought it would be toppy around there," Mr Marshall said.
The Reserve Bank's announcement that it strongly disputes the notion that it would only allow the economy to grow at 3 per cent annually today had no effect on the kiwi.
In a letter released today but written on May 27, acting governor Rod Carr told Parliament's finance and expenditure committee the bank had to be certain that any growth rate did not persistently add to inflation or deflation.
The bank said its current estimate was that a 3 per cent growth rate would not put pressure on inflation either way.
Basil Payn, chief currency dealer for Westpac, said he thought the correction would last for a couple of days.
"There's nothing that's fundamentally changed. When those technical levels hold pretty well on the day and you see quite a pull back, that encourages people to say that high seems to have held quite well and take profit on long positions ..."
In offshore trade, the greenback fell against the yen but managed a slight gain against the euro despite a fizzled Wall Street rebound.
US stocks finished in the red as surprisingly weak US retail sales data sapped confidence in the powerhouse economy.
The euro was trading at US94.34c at 5pm, from US94.28c last night, while the greenback had slipped to 124.86 yen (125.76 last night).
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was at A86.32c (A86.30c), 61.06 yen (61.67), 33.21 pence (33.38), 0.7650 Swiss francs (0.7683) and 0.5184 euros (0.5200).
Against the kiwi the aussie was buying $NZ1.1583 ($NZ1.1588).
On the money market 90-day bills were at 5.93 per cent (5.92), the trade-weighted index was 56.75 (56.98) and the monetary conditions index was at minus 137 (minus 117).
The April 2004 bonds were at 6.02 per cent (6.06), the November 2006 bonds were at 6.45 per cent (6.51), and the November 2011 bonds were at 6.60 per cent (6.67).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi finishes week below US49c
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