NZ dollar gains against weak Aussie

The New Zealand dollar gained against the Australian dollar today after weaker than expected Australian retail sales data.

It traded in a relatively narrow range against the greenback ahead of non-farm payrolls data on Friday, dipping slightly after the National Bank Business Outlook survey showed confidence had slipped.

BNZ strategist Danica Hampton said that when people looked at the detail of the survey they found it was consistent with a stable picture.

"Really the kiwi has traded in a tight range. It's been a very slow day," she said.

The NZ dollar was US70.94c at 5pm from US70.98c at 8am and US71.05c at 5pm yesterday. It had peaked on Wednesday night around US71.30c, its highest level since March 19.

It rose to be A77.53c at 5pm from A77.24c at 8am and A77.32c at 5pm yesterday.

"Retail sales data in Australia was disappointing," Ms Hampton said.

The Australian dollar shed half a US cent after news that retail sales fell 1.4 per cent in February when the market was expecting a 0.2 per cent rise.

The NZ dollar was at 0.5291 euro from 0.5268 yesterday, and 66.25 yen from 65.50. The trade weighted index rose to 66.19 at 5pm from 65.99 yesterday.

- NZPA