KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar eased in tandem with its Australian cousin today, under pressure from weak Australian trade data.
The kiwi dollar peaked at US76.55c but slipped back in the afternoon after the trade data announcement, closing at US76.18c.
The kiwi was about one US cent higher on Friday (US77.35c), but sank below US76c on Saturday as profit-takers cashed in on fresh confidence in the greenback.
Against the Aussie, the kiwi gained a little during the session, buying A86.63c compared with 87.02c on Friday.
But it weakened to 84.24 yen from around 84.99 yen on Friday, and to 0.5197 euro from 0.5230.
The trade weighted index fell to 70.47 from 71.07.
ANZ Institutional Bank said the market was focused this week on interest rates outcomes from central banks in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Canada and Britain.
On Saturday the US dollar rallied across the board, supported by optimism that further US interest rate cuts would help the world's biggest economy avoid a recession.
But today the greenback slipped back again to 110.57 yen, although that was well above the 2-1/2-year low of 107.22 yen hit early last week.
The euro climbed 0.2 per cent to US$1.4658 having pulled back from a record high of US$1.4968 hit last month.
5pm today 5pm Friday
NZ dlr/US dlr US76.18c US77.35c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A86.63c A87.02c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5197 0.5230
NZ dlr/yen 84.24 84.99
NZ dlr/stg 37.04p 37.39p
NZ TWI 70.47 71.07
Australian dollar US87.93c US88.61c
Euro/US dollar 1.4658 1.4740
US dollar/yen 110.57 110.21
- NZPA