Currency: NZ dollar holds at US53c mark

The New Zealand dollar traded in a narrow range against the greenback as the kiwi failed to push higher despite surprisingly strong housing data in the United States whetting risk appetite.

By 8am today the NZ dollar was buying US53.03c having traded in a range between about US53.25c and US52.75c in the previous 24 hours.

The US dollar rose against the yen on the back of plans by the Bank of Japan to buy subordinated loans which raised fears the central bank would flood the market with yen.

The NZ dollar eased to 0.4076 euro at today's local open from 0.4085 at 5pm yesterday, and was barely changed against the Japanese currency at 52.21 yen at 8am.

The kiwi was also down against the Australian dollar to A80.21c at 8am from A80.40c at the local close. The trade weighted index was 53.99 at 8am from 54.09 at 5pm.

- NZPA