NZ dollar eases off recent high

The New Zealand dollar retreated from a two-month high today in a move analysts attributed to a trader-driven attack on the euro.

"The euro was the first to move. Traders offshore pushed the euro through an important stop level," said Imre Speizer, currency strategist at Westpac.

The euro was 1.4428 US dollars at 5pm, down from 1.4536 at the same time yesterday.

Its fall this afternoon affected other non-US dollar currencies.

The NZ dollar was at US73.84c at 5pm and traded as low as US73.70c today after reaching a two-month high on Thursday night. It was US74.05c at 5pm yesterday.

The NZ dollar was at 0.5116 euro at 5pm from 0.5094 yesterday.

"I suspect sentiment around the euro would be negative at the moment so it would be easier to push it down than up," said Mr Speizer.

The NZ dollar had been supported this week by a stronger than expected employment report in Australia, while overnight economic reports showed US retail sales unexpectedly fell in December from November and jobless claims rose last week.

Analysts said the combination of that data with a weaker-than-expected payrolls report last Friday raised concern about the outlook for the global economy.

The NZ dollar was at A79.58c against the Australian dollar at 5pm from A79.66c at the same time yesterday.

It was at 67.30 yen from 67.94 yen yesterday.

The trade weighted index was 66.69 from 66.79 yesterday.

- NZPA