The NZ dollar traded close to a 10-year low against Australia's following a government report displaying that the retail sales in the smaller nation had fallen by the most since the year 1997.

The kiwi weakened as compared to all 16 of its chief counterparts following a survey where the forecasters predicted that New Zealand's economy will rise at a slower pace than had been estimated earlier in the wake of consumer expenditure remaining sluggish. The Australian dollar traded near its strongest level in a month against the greenback following the commodities and stocks advanced, increasing the demand for the nation's higher-yielding assets.

John Kyriakopoulos, chief of currency strategy in Sydney at National Australia Bank Ltd. which is the country's biggest lender said that whatever has been taking place is actually that the market has been pushing out the timing for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to increase its rates again.

New Zealand's dollar traded at NZ$1.3267 for every Aussie at 4:42 p. m. in Sydney from the NZ$1.3263 in New York yesterday, after decreasing to NZ$1.3288, the lowest since November 2000.

The currency reduced by 0.1 percent down to 75.03 U. S. cents, and decreased by 0.1 percent down to 62.62 yen.