KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar edged down against the greenback today ahead of a Reserve Bank decision on interest rates tomorrow.
The kiwi dollar was pegged back by late-session selling pressure, ranging from US70.23c to a close of US69.93c, compared with US69.89c yesterday.
Trading reflected a level of uncertainty as to whether the central bank will hold rates steady, given mixed inflationary data out last week.
However, the kiwi strengthened against its Australian counterpart as softer-than-expected Australian consumer price data put expectations of a rates hike there firmly on hold.
The kiwi jumped from a low of A88.42c during the session to a close of A89.29c (compared with A88.63c yesterday).
The Australian dollar dropped nearly 100 points against the greenback, slipping from US79.20c this morning to US78.30c.
Dealers said the Australian data had seen "people liquidate long Aussie positions against the kiwi".
Locally, the market digested the release of December credit card billings, which rose a hefty 3.2 percent after falling 1 percent in the previous month.
The US dollar plunged to a 14-year low against sterling overnight, as robust euro zone economic data and comments by central bankers signalled interest rates will continue to rise in Europe.
Rates:
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US69.93c US69.89c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A89.29c A88.63c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5367 0.5400
NZ dlr/yen 85.09 85.06
NZ dlr/stg 35.29p 35.32p
NZ TWI 69.45 69.47
Australian dollar US78.31 US78.87c
Euro/US dollar 1.3031 1.2941
US dollar/yen 121.56 121.71
- NZPA