The New Zealand dollar was down against the greenback today, and was steady against the Australian dollar after a session of fluctuations.

Earlier movement against the aussie was in reaction to news Vodafone was buying Australian-based Telstra Clear for $840 million, and later that unemployment across the Tasman was worse than expected as it rose to 5.2 per cent after the loss of 27,000 jobs.

The kiwi recently traded at US79.29c, down from US79.67c. On the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies, it was at 72.20, down from 72.41 in the morning.

ASB head of institutional FX sales Tim Kelleher said the kiwi had been trading within the ranges seen during the past week today, with a weak bias.

"First this morning there was the announcement by Vodafone that they're buying Telstra Clear and there was some selling down of the kiwi and buying of the aussie on the back of that. Even though it will not be settled until the fourth quarter, the market is pre-empting cashflows," Kelleher said.

"The Australian jobs data was particularly weak and there was some selling of the Australian dollar on the back of that which continued to put pressure on the kiwi dollar."

On the crosses, the kiwi was at 77.82 Australian cents, down from A77.73c earlier. It was at 64.77 euro cents, down from 65.04 euro cents. It recently traded at 51.14 pence, down from 51.34 pence and was at 63.04 Japanese yen, down from 63.39 yen earlier.

Kelleher expected the kiwi to trade between US79.00c and US79.50c overnight with a bias towards the downside.

- © Fairfax NZ News