The New Zealand dollar was little changed, retracing an earlier decline, after dairy prices fell as expected and comments by Federal Reserve officials kept alive the possibility of a US rate hike as soon as next month.
The kiwi traded at 71.62 US cents as at 8am in Wellington, having sunk as low as 71.27 cents ahead of the GlobalDairyTrade auction, from 71.55 cents late yesterday. The trade-weighted index was at 78.10 from 78.03 yesterday.
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Two Fed officials spoke overnight. Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker said a hike in March was on the table while Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester said she was "comfortable inflation is near its goal" and that she would be comfortable to raise rates at this point. US and European stocks rose, as did commodity prices and the greenback. Meanwhile, prices fell at the latest dairy auction, after two successive gains, with the GDT index falling 3.2 per cent and whole milk powder down 3.7 per cent.