NZ dollar drops

The New Zealand dollar traded in a narrow range at lower levels yesterday and investors kept a wary eye on Wall St's performance after a wobble on Thursday. The kiwi was at US73.32c by 5pm from US73.26c at 8am and US74.03c at 5pm on Thursday. It spent most of yesterday in a tight range between US73.13c and US73.44c. Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer said there was "not a sausage" of reaction to concerned comments about the strength of the currency by Prime Minister John Key on the sidelines of the Apec meeting. Speizer said a trading range established for six months on the Australian cross had been broken and the NZ dollar was likely to continue to weaken against the aussie. It was at A79.15c at 5pm from A79.20c at the same time on Thursday. The kiwi was little changed at €0.4930 from €0.4936 and was at 66.10 from 66.43 on Thursday. The trade weighted index was 65.53 at 5pm from 65.85 on Thursday.