The New Zealand dollar was up against the greenback today after China's gross domestic product numbers, although weak, were in line with expectations.

In Europe, ratings agency Moody's downgraded Italy's credit rating but markets remained buoyed by the Chinese data.

The kiwi recently traded at US79.15c, up from US79.07c earlier today. It was at 72.00 on the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies.

"The market spent most of the day treading water ahead of Chinese GDP data which was not as weak as some whispers feared, so we saw relief on the cross markets propellling the kiwi dollar higher," Bank of New Zealand market strategist Mike Jones said.

"'The market has just closed out the week in fairly listless fashion, looking next week to get a firmer steer on whether the US Federal Reserve will move on quantitative easing or not. Investors are just a little bit gun shy from all the volatility of late."

On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 77.83 Australian cents, down from A77.90c in the morning. It was at 64.83 euro cents, up from 64.76 euro cents earlier. The kiwi recently traded at 62.75 Japanese yen, up from 62.68 yen earlier. It was at 51.28 pence, up slightly from 51.24 pence.

Jones expected the kiwi to trade between a range of US78.70c and US79.40c, with a bias towards the downside. 

- © Fairfax NZ News