KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar was little changed after uneventful trading today, with little domestic data ahead to give it direction.
By 5pm, the kiwi had retreated a little to US78.85c from US78.91c late yesterday afternoon. It traded a narrow range between US78.66c and US79.02c during the session.
Against the aussie, it was buying A87.26c from A87.49c. The NZ dollar lost around half a cent yesterday, as the Aussie remained supported by the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate hike last week and the expectation of another in March.
The currency firmed a little against the euro, but eased against the yen and sterling.
"Very quiet day, (kiwi) got bought up late by New Yorkers as the equity markets went up, but drifted back off..." said one dealer.
"We're waiting for the next direction in the equity markets."
Secondary data dominates the local calendar, with the Producers Price Index and Capital Goods Index tomorrow, the monthly Food Price Index on Thursday, and fourth quarter retail sales figures on Friday.
The euro slipped today as traders speculated whether slower European growth warranted a European Central Bank interest rate cut in the coming months, even as inflationary pressures continue.
But currencies were little changed as Tokyo traders returned from a market holiday that had followed a weekend meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Tokyo, where the world's biggest economies turned more pessimistic on the global economy.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US78.85c US78.91c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A87.26c A87.49c
NZ dlr/euro 0.5433 0.5429
NZ dlr/yen 84.31 84.62
NZ dlr/stg 40.43p 40.50p
NZ TWI 72.66 72.74
Australian dollar US90.37c US90.18c
Euro/US dollar 1.4513 1.4529
US dollar/yen 106.95 107.28
- NZPA
