KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar ended its local session down from the open but well above the US69c level.
The kiwi was around US69.38c at 5pm after opening at US69.46c, about a cent more than its value 48 hours earlier and compared too the US69.06c close yesterday.
The kiwi traded between US69.50c and US69.20c today and it is expected to trade in a range between US69.40c and US68.90c overnight.
Dovish comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, following soft retail sales data from the United States overnight, had placed the NZ dollar uptrend on a much firmer footing, ANZ bank said today.
Strong retail sales data in New Zealand today, which suggested the Reserve Bank of New Zealand would have to raise rates again, looked like another positive but analysis of the detail of the numbers was more mixed, dealers said.
Instead the focus turned to a big rise in the yen on the back of strong GDP data in Japan.
"The world is long kiwi versus the yen so the yen rise will force some unwinding of those positions which means kiwi selling," one dealer said.
That and nervousness about the extend of the rise of the kiwi dollar this week was limiting progress higher.
Against the Australian currency, the NZ dollar was little changed at A88.52c from A88.50c at 5pm yesterday.
The euro also had a strong session overnight and the kiwi was at 0.5292 euro this morning from 0.5298 yesterday. It was 0.5283 at the close.
The trade weighted index was at 68.67 from 68.69.
The US dollar fell to a six-week low against the euro after Mr Bernanke said inflation pressures were starting to ease, boosting chances of a US interest rate cut later this year.
His remarks surprised those who expected him at the very least to echo recent comments from other Fed officials who have dwelt on upside risks to the inflation outlook.
The greenback also weakened against other major currencies.
A report showing that US retail sales did not notch up a post-holiday boost in January, ending the month unchanged, also sparked some concern about the strength of the US economy.
Reuters currency rates:
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US69.38c US69.06c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A88.52c A88.50c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5283 0.5298
NZ dlr/yen 83.34 83.74
NZ dlr/stg 35.33p 35.48p
NZ TWI 68.67 68.69
Australian dollar US78.38c US78.04c
Euro/US dollar 1.3135 1.3037
US dollar/yen 120.15 121.23
- NZPA