The New Zealand dollar came under pressure on Thursday after a disappointing report on China's manufacturing sector renewed worries about the health of the world's second-biggest economy.
A flurry of economic data has had little impact.
The data included in the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence survey showed confidence at a seven-year high and inflation expectations easing.
Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer says the China story was the only factor and the New Zealand dollar dropped from around 83 cents to about 82.6 cents, but the Australian dollar dropped even further showing the Australian economy is more closely tied to the Chinese one.
At around 5pm on Thursday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 82.79 US cents, down from 83.16 at the same time on Wednesday, and it was at 94.12 Australian cents, from 93.78.
It was down about half a British penny at 49.95 pence, 0.6108 euro and 86.40 yen.
Sharemarket falls
The New Zealand stock market has fallen with the benchmark top 50 Index closed down 39 points, or 0.8%, to 4911.
Devon Funds Management portfolio manager Nick Dravitzki says the fall has been driven by individual stocks.
He says the largest negative movement on Thursday was The Warehouse which was a result of a trading update it gave which showed that although sales numbers were reasonably good, their margins were not impressive.
Shares in the Warehouse closed down 18 cents to $3.54.
The listed retailer is forecasting net profit after tax for the six months to the end of January, to be in the range of $46 million to $48 million.
That's down from the $52.9 million it made for the same period last year.
Meridian Energy says it generated 10% more electricity in December, compared to a year ago.
However, the prices it got for that electricity was 5% lower due to above average water levels.
Its stock is up 1 cent to 99.5 cents.
