Dollar edges lower vs greenback

The New Zealand dollar edged lower against the greenback overnight, as the United States currency climbed away from a 15-month low against major currencies.

In the preceding 34 hours, the kiwi had moved between about US74.45c and US73.85c, and around 8am it was near the bottom of that range at US73.91c.

ANZ bank said that yesterday and overnight the NZ dollar marched "through well trodden ranges".

"It looked to be, all-in-all, a pretty quiet night in markets overnight, with liquidity thinned by the Veterans Day holiday in the US," ANZ said.

In local markets today, all eyes would be on two key pieces of Australasian data - September quarter retail figures in this country and October employment data in Australia.

"Both can be seen as important directional drivers."

The kiwi was barely changed against the Australian dollar, from its 5pm level, at A79.63c at 8am.

The New Zealand dollar was also hardly any different at 0.4940 euro, and edged up to 66.41 yen at the local open from 66.30. The trade weighted index was 65.89 at 8am from 65.90 at 5pm.

Continuing comments from US Federal Reserve officials, warning that economic recovery would be erratic and hinting that interest rates would remain low for some time, made the US dollar less attractive to investors than higher-yielding currencies, stocks and commodities.

Data showing China's factory output surged to a 19-month high last month, suggesting robust growth in the world's third-largest economy, initially sparked some US dollar selling as investors bought higher-yielding currencies.

The high-yielding aussie hit a 15-month high against the greenback, but those gains later evaporated.

- NZPA