NZ dollar fails to rise above losses

The New Zealand dollar traded a narrow range today, having fallen overnight against the currencies of the United States and Japan as it was pulled down by a weaker Australian dollar.

At 5pm, the kiwi was buying US71.27c, little changed from this morning but down from US71.60c at 5pm yesterday. It peaked at a more than two-month high late yesterday morning above US71.90c.

The NZ dollar, which also peaked at a more than two-month high against the Japanese yen yesterday morning of around 67 yen, lost ground to trade at 66.07 yen by 5pm.

The kiwi's decline against the yen was on the back of the yen's gains against the euro and US dollar today. The higher-yielding currencies bore the brunt of profit-taking as initial optimism about an aid package for Greece turned cautious over the longer-term outlook.

The kiwi continued strengthening against the Australian dollar, trading at A77.22c this afternoon. It has recovered steadily from its more than nine-year low of A75.50c hit last week.

Despite also making up some ground against the euro and sterling, the trade weighted index slipped to 66.07 from 66.66 late yesterday afternoon.

The kiwi traded between US71.05c and a high of US71.40c during today's domestic session.

- NZPA