NZD down in tight range

The New Zealand dollar fell against the greenback today in a tight session of trading in a limited range.

The kiwi recently traded at US81.65c, down from US81.87c earlier. It was at 73.30 on the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies, an improvement from 73.22 in the morning. 

HiFX currency strategist Alex Hill said the kiwi had a quiet day.

"It has just been stagnant in a 20-point range, it was just a bit of a follow-on from the holiday in the United States so markets are looking for their stock market to open up again tonight to give us some meaningful direction," Hill said.

"Domestically, we have got the key for the kiwi specifically being the retail sales numbers due to come out tomorrow at 10.45am. All eyes will be on that for an indication of whether a rate cut will be spoken about more widely after the recent poor employment figures."

Overnight markets will be looking to consumer price index data due out from the United Kingdom and economic data from Germany. 

On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 78.43 Australian cents,up from A78.36c earlier. It fell to 64.35 euro cents from 64.97 euro cents earlier. Against the British pound, it fell to 51.45 pence from 51.49 pence earlier. It was at 64.71 Japanese yen, down from 64.97 yen earlier. 

Hill expected the kiwi to trade between US81.90c and US80.90c overnight with a slight bias to the downside.

- © Fairfax NZ News