KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar rose in morning trading but it wasn't sustained and the currency drifted lower again.
The NZ dollar was at US59.80c at 5pm from US60.19c at 8am and US59.30c at 5pm on Friday. Last Monday morning it was buying US66c.
The currency rose to US61.60c in early trading but then turned down.
Traders continue to watch the global financial story unfold, with Britain moving to recapitalise banks and Australia and New Zealand moving on deposit insurance.
New Zealand retail sales data was in line with expectation and with a light economic diary this week the focus was on the global financial situation.
"There's been some quite positive comments around Europe about how they are going to work together," said Jake Soanes, head of financial market sales at Westpac.
"But the market hasn't held the gains," he said.
He said the market was still assessing the deposit insurance scheme for New Zealand and a focus would be on how the global inter-bank market operated in the wake of all the moves.
There was a holiday in Tokyo today and some US markets were reduced by the Columbus Day holiday.
The NZ dollar was still seen as vulnerable as risk aversion continued.
But BNZ argued the NZ dollar had the potential to push back towards US64c to US64.50c should risk appetite and equity market confidence improve substantially.
At today's local close the NZ dollar was at 0.4418 euro from 0.4382 at 5pm Friday, while against the yen the kiwi moved up to 59.85 from 58.50.
The kiwi was off highs against the Australian dollar, buying A90.05c at 5pm today from A89.60c at Friday's local close. It reached around A93.95c, its highest level in nearly three years, on Saturday morning. The trade weighted index rose to 59.59 from 59.03.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US59.80c US59.30c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A90.05c A89.60c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4418 0.4382
NZ dlr/yen 59.85 58.50
NZ dlr/stg 35.10p 34.95p
NZ TWI 59.59 59.03
Australian dollar US66.45c US66.15c
Euro/US dollar 1.3536 1.3547
US dollar/yen 100.08 98.80
- NZPA
