The New Zealand dollar has held its gains after Chinese inflation data came in near expectations and traders warmed to the kiwi's fundamentals ahead of what's expected to be an interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank.
The kiwi traded at 83.36 US cents, down from 83.52 cents at 8am in Wellington and up from 83.11 cents on Thursday.
The trade-weighted index was unchanged from Thursday at 78.28.
Consumer prices in China rose 2.5 per cent in January from a year earlier, just above the 2.4 per cent pace forecast in a Bloomberg survey but not enough to prompt economists to revise their take on the biggest market for New Zealand and Australia.
At home, the Reserve Bank releases its monetary policy statement on March 13 and is expected to hike the official cash rate by a quarter point to 2.75 per cent
"The kiwi has got a modest upward bias," said Imre Speizer, senior market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp.
"It's not a screaming buy but clearly there is a good, positive backdrop in New Zealand."
The New Zealand dollar traded at 92.69 Australian cents, down from 92.89 cents on Thursday and was little changed at 60.94 euro cents and 84.82 yen.
