The New Zealand dollar plodded to the end of the week, trading in a moderately wide range that belied the lack of volume today.
One local dealer said the kiwi opened at the middle of what became the day's range of US56.99/57.35c.
"It had a little drip lower on the back of the euro, and then we've seen a late rally, but to be honest the range belies a very, very quiet day. Volume has been extremely low and people have just been sitting back rather than participating," he said.
Market players appeared to be awaiting the outcome of a Group of Seven meeting in France this weekend.
The dealer picked the kiwi to trade between US57.10/60c offshore.
"I think over the last 24 hours it's been starting to look as though it's holding up pretty well despite the euro, even a little bit more euro weakness probably isn't going to affect it too badly. The risk is probably skewed towards the top side."
By 5pm the kiwi was at US57.32c, down slightly from US57.35c last night, while the aussie was buying US64.24c (US64.39c).
In Tokyo, the United States dollar slipped but kept off its latest two-year low versus the yen, as traders looked to the G7 meeting of the world's wealthiest nations to gauge how seriously Washington is engaged in maintaining a strong dollar.
In Wellington at 5pm the euro was at $US1.1409c, down from $US1.1443c last night. The US dollar strengthened to buy 116.31 yen (116.17 yen).
On the crosses at 5pm, the kiwi was buying A89.24c (A88.06c at 5pm yesterday), 66.67 yen (66.60 yen), 35.34 pence (35.53), 0.7573 Swiss francs (0.7576), and 0.5024 euro (0.5012).
The Australian dollar was buying $NZ1.1207.
The monetary conditions index was at plus 189 (190), the trade-weighted index was at 61.21 (61.17) and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.41 per cent (5.48)
On the debt market, February 2005 yields were unchanged at 5.05 per cent, the November 2006s were at 5.22 per cent (5.20), and the November 2011s were at 5.57 per cent (5.55).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi in cruise mode at week's end
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