The New Zealand dollar slipped below the US83 cent mark overnight, as investor appetite for higher yielding currencies continued to wane in the wake of the Greek bailout deal.
The kiwi recently traded at US82.97c, down from US83.26 at 5pm yesterday, while on the trade-weighted index of major trading partners' currencies it fell to 73.42 from 73.55.
Global markets continued to retreat overnight, with investors turning their focus to economic data now that Greece and its bailout have stepped out of the spotlight for the time being.
In the US pre-owned home sales rose 4.3 per cent in January, short of the 4.7 per cent gain expected by a Bloomberg poll, while across the Atlantic a German measure of manufacturing activity fell to 52.9 in February from 53.9 in the previous month.
Meanwhile the HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI reading for February came in at 49.7, showing factory activity in the world's second biggest economy was still in contraction.
On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.3 per cent in afternoon trade to 1357.62, while in Europe the Stoxx 600 Index closed 0.8 per cent lower at 264.59.
Dan Bell, senior currency strategist at HiFX, said the kiwi and Australian dollar both looked stretched in the current environment, with further downside risk ahead in the coming weeks.
"Everyone who has wanted to buy [the kiwi] has already bought it, and we haven't had any news that would compel it higher," he said.
The Japanese yen continued to lose ground, hitting its lowest level against the greenback in over seven months, with Tokyo's recently launched asset buying programme weighing on the currency. The dollar was recently trading at 81.30 yen, up from 79.89 yen yesterday.
On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 77.92 Australian cents, down from A78.11c yesterday, and it rose to 66.67 yen from 66.57 yen. It fell to 62.61 euro cents, from 62.91 euro cents previously, and rose to 52.91 pence from 52.75 pence.
The kiwi may trade between a range of US82.50c and US83.50c today, Bell said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/market-data/currencies/6466367/Kiwi-dollars-slips
