The New Zealand dollar drifted aimlessly in a market where the US Independence Day holiday continued to hold sway on light volumes.
The kiwi ended virtually unchanged at US61.06c against the greenback. It made most ground against the Australian dollar where it climbed over A82c -- ending on A82.02c compared with A81.82c yesterday.
In one of the few items of news on the day, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave interest rates unchanged, as expected.
Investors assume a hike in rates in Australia is more likely than not in the next few months.
"It was widely expected the RBA would pass on this opportunity. It seems prudent at this stage to at least allow some time to assess the impact of the May interest rate rise," said Andrew Hanlan, senior economist at Westpac.
That contrasts with New Zealand where the next rate change is expected to be down, although not until later this year or in 2007.
After touching a four-year low on Monday night of 0.4717 against the euro, the kiwi firmed to 0.4772 against last night's close of 0.4752.
The trade-weighted index firmed to 61.23 against 60.99 yesterday.
In the majors, the yen trimmed losses after falling against the US dollar and hitting a record low versus the euro on reports that North Korea had test-fired missiles.
With only limited information available on the launches, dealers turned cautious after initially dumping the yen on news that Pyongyang had fired at least six missiles despite repeated warnings from North Korea's neighbours and from Washington.
The euro ended little changed at US$1.2796.
A wave of safe-haven buying pushed the Swiss franc to a fresh eight-year high against the yen while gold rose by more than 1 per cent to its highest level in a month.
The Australian dollar close on US74.55c against US74.38c yesterday.
5pm today 5pm Tuesday
NZ dlr US61.06c US60.85c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A82.02c A81.82c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4772 0.4752
NZ dlr/yen 70.12 69.72
NZ dlr/stg 33.09p 33.00p
NZ TWI 61.23 60.99
Australian dollar US74.55c US74.38c
Euro/US dollar US1.2796 US1.2804
US dollar/yen 114.83 114.56
- NZPA
<i>Currency:</i> NZ dollar bounces back above A82c
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