The New Zealand dollar was little changed as a weaker-than-expected US employment report on Friday sapped demand for the greenback, and left investors waiting for their cue from this week's dairy auction and local jobs data, both due Wednesday morning local time.
The kiwi traded at 85.09 US cents at
5pm in Wellington from 85.07 cents at 8am and 85.16 cents on Friday in New York. The trade-weighted index was 79.73 from 79.67 last week.
The US added 209,000 jobs in July, missing economists' expectations by about 24,000 and sapping demand for the greenback, which had been buoyed by a string of upbeat data last week. Economists were hoping the jobs report would extend the run of strong US data, meaning the US Federal Reserve would start raising interest rates earlier than expected.
"The data last week was pretty decent, but the one report everybody wanted to be strong was payrolls," said Sam Tuck, senior FX strategist at ANZ Bank New Zealand in Auckland. "Long-term, US data should strengthen, but the kiwi is looking a bit oversold, and consolidation would be healthy."
Traders are watching for Fonterra Co-operative Group's GlobalDairyTrade auction for another clue on how robust New Zealand's biggest exporter is faring after prices fell to their lowest since December 2012 at the last fortnightly event. The ANZ Commodity Price Index today showed whole milk powder prices led New Zealand commodity prices lower last month.
