The New Zealand dollar followed its trans-Tasman counterpart lower after weaker than expected Australian economic data weighed on the outlook for the two, and as investors continued to back the greenback.
The kiwi fell to 77.71 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 77.91 cents at 8am and 78.76 cents on Tuesday. The currency was little changed at 92.56 Australian cents from 92.53 cents on Tuesday.
The Australian dollar dropped almost three-quarters of a US cent and was trading at 83.92 US cents, after Australian gross domestic product grew 0.3 per cent in the three months ended September 30, short of the 0.7 per cent expected by economists.
That weighed on the New Zealand dollar, which had already been put under pressure by a fall in dairy prices at the GlobalDairyTrade auction.
In addition, support for the greenback grew after Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer said the Fed was coming close to removing its pledge to keep rates low for a considerable time.
"Aussie GDP was weaker than expected - people expected it to be strong and it went the other way," said Imre Speizer, senior market strategist at Westpac. "The kiwi looks like it wants to head down to 77 cents and give that a test."
Government figures on Wednesday showed New Zealand's building activity rose 1.5 per cent in the third quarter, due largely to non-residential work, and lagging a 2.2 per cent increase in the value of work put in place.
The local currency dropped to 62.72 euro cents, from 63.17 cents, ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday in Brussels, and fell to 49.66 British pence from 50.06 pence ahead of the Bank of England's policy meeting, also on Thursday.
The local currency declined to 92.73 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 93.24 yen. The trade-weighted index fell to 78.13 from 78.71.
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