The New Zealand dollar was little changed at the end of the business week, ahead of key American jobs figures for October due out on Friday night.
Westpac Bank currency strategist Imre Speizer says the data will be grim because of the US government shutdown, making the numbers hard to predict and more likely to surprise.
At the end of the local business day, the Kiwi was trading at 83.32 US cents, 88.05 Australian cents, 51.75 British pence, 0.6212 euro and 81.76 yen.
The benchmark Top 50 Index ended the day 29 points higher at 4951 with Chorus and Xero being key drivers.
A broker at First NZ Capital, Don Lewthwaite, says negative sentiment in the wake of the regulator's copper pricing decision weighed on Chorus during early trading.
Chorus ended down 10 cents at $2, off its $1.85 low, while Xero finished up $1.21 at $35.21, off its $31 low.
Metlifecare gained 28 cents to $4.45.
Across the Tasman, there was a lacklustre finish to the trading week for the Australian share market, with across-the-board losses.
The All Ordinaries Index closed down 21 points on Friday to 5394 and the ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 5401.
Rio Tinto fell 0.33% , BHP Billiton closed down 0.75% and Fortescue Metals slumped 4.2% .
Westpac fared the worst of the big four banks as it traded ex-dividend. It fell 2.8% to $33.18.
Commonwealth Bank shares edged almost 0.33% lower.
The lender held its annual general meeting in Adelaide, with chairman David Turner saying the outlook for the bank in the year ahead was encouraging.
ANZ outperformed with gains of 1%, while NAB added A10 cents to $A34.78.
Qantas shares added just over 2%, after the airline said it would be closing its heavy maintenance division at Avalon near Melbourne early next year.
The move will see 300 jobs lost.
In advance of the release of the US jobs data, other markets were also on atenterhooks:
the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.5% in early trading at 6,666, while the Dax in Frankfurt was down 0.6%. The Cac 40 in Paris was down 0.8% after the downgrading of its debt by S&P. Earlier, the Nikkei in Tokyo closed down 1.0% while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng ended the day down 0.6%.
