The New Zealand dollar spent most of the day consolidating after sliding against the greenback as the United States currency attracted safe-haven buyers.
The NZ dollar was US52.45c at 5pm from US52.58c at the same time yesterday. The currency fell a cent to US51.70c during a two-hour periodon Thursday night.
Investors were concerned about global stock market weakness and the effectiveness of US government policies in combating recession and that affected demand for the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
But Asian share markets rallied today and traders unwound positions ahead of a Group of Seven meeting and a long weekend in the US.
There was a lot of domestic news today with retail sales data, housing market data and Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard sharing observations about a recent overseas trip.
But BNZ said international news would keep downward pressure on the exchange rate even though massive downward movement had already occurred.
"We struggle to see any expansion emerging early this year," BNZ said in comment on weak retail data.
The New Zealand dollar was also lower at 0.4055 euro from 0.4076 yesterday but it rose to 47.78 yen from 47.37.
The NZ dollar was lower against the Australian dollar, buying A79.61c from A80.10c, while the trade weighted index dropped to 52.83 from 53.05 yesterday.
