Dollar barely stirs in sleepy session

File photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar spent a very quiet session trading in a narrow range yesterday.

By 5pm the NZ dollar was at US76.62c, little changed from US76.84c at 8am and down from US77.33c at 5pm Tuesday. The currency is sitting below the US80c level it challenged earlier this month, having retreated on profit-taking, jitters about European sovereign debt and speculation that China will tighten its monetary policy,

"It has been a very sleepy session, an absolute snoozefest," BNZ strategist Mike Jones said.

Investors had an eye on the European sovereign debt crisis and there was no major data out in Asian markets, he said. The local market would continue to be driven by global factors but investors have an eye on developments in the kiwifruit industry.

The vine canker bacteria Psa has spread to kiwifruit orchards in the South Island and eradication is looking increasingly unlikely, Biosecurity Minister David Carter said last night.

Carter said he would talk to Prime Minister John Key about industry requests for urgent action, but declined to put any figures on how much taxpayer funding the sector wanted, or what he envisaged the Government providing.

Meantime, Chinese monetary policy continues to be an issue on investors' radar screens.

"More rumours of Chinese action to cool inflation pressures saw Asian equity markets dip into the red yesterday," Jones said.

The US dollar has been strong and the euro weak on worries about Ireland's debt crisis. The NZ dollar was little changed at €0.5671 at 5pm from €0.5679 at the same time yesterday. It was at A78.43c against A78.13c yesterday afternoon and at 63.87 from 64.22. The trade weighted index was little changed at 68.96 from 69.17.

- NZPA