The New Zealand dollar eased during the day, hot on the heels of the sliding Australian dollar.
By 5pm the kiwi was at US57.45c, down from US57.80c late yesterday, while the aussie was at US64.36c (US64.71c).
One local dealer said the kiwi was likely to continue drifting off during the offshore session tonight, after trading in a tight range of US57.34/78c today.
"There was a stronger US dollar, we haven't seen too many buyers today.
"The first level (on the down side) is probably US57.20c, and then US56.80c, and on the top side US57.60c then US57.80c.
"(The kiwi) just looks a wee bit soft today. It was a very quiet day -- a US holiday today (Labour Day), and quiet in Europe," he said.
Australia's second quarter gross domestic product figures out today disappointed but did not have a large impact on the Australian dollar.
Despite a nearly flat economy in the June quarter and a fall in annual growth to 2 per cent from 3 per cent, most Australian economists said the worst was over and were confident of a pick-up in the second half.
The US dollar found some strength ahead of the report tonight from the Institute for Supply Management, which is expected to show its factory index rose in July.
In Wellington at 5pm the US dollar was buying 116.75 yen, from 116.71 yen yesterday, while the euro was at US$1.0935 (US$1.0989).
On the crosses at 5pm the kiwi was buying A89.25c (A89.33c), 67.09 yen (67.46), 36.61 pence (36.61), 0.8081 Swiss francs (0.8099), and 0.5253 euro (0.5259).
The Australian dollar rose to $1.1206 ($1.1196).
The monetary conditions index was at plus 233 (251), the trade-weighted index was at 62.09 (62.31) and 90-day bank bill yields were at 5.12 per cent (5.14).
The February 2005 yields were at 5.35 per cent (5.31), the November 2006s were at 5.60 per cent (5.57), and the November 2011s were at 5.99 per cent (5.92).
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> Kiwi slides on Aussie coattails
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