The US dollar was trading slightly higher against major currencies, marking time in a narrow range ahead of key data releases, dealers said. They said main interest has been in the New Zealand dollar which spiked following an unexpectedly hawkish statement from the country's central bank, suggesting inflationary pressures are higher than expected despite its tight monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said it saw "more inflation pressure than in earlier reviews" and was "less confident that no further policy tightening will be required in this cycle". It made the statement after leaving its official cash rate unchanged at 7.25 pct - the highest in the industrialized world. Meanwhile, the US dollar was at 117.51 yen from 117.50 Sydney morning while the euro was at 1.2693 usd from 1.2700. CMC Markets senior foreign exchange dealer Robert Mulcahy said the major currencies remain range bound trading within a 20 points range over the day so far. "There's not been too much excitement out there apart from the New Zealand dollar," Mulcahy said. He said the US dollar is showing some weakness, particularly against the yen as talk continues that China may further relax its foreign exchange policy. "That sort of talk always helps the yen," Mulcahy said. Meanwhile, he said, little further action is expected until after the release of US and UK retail sales data for August tonight