The New Zealand dollar is little changed from this time on Monday as all eyes turn to the United States to see whether its government is forced to shut down.
Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer said players in global currency markets were sitting on their hands until it became clear what was happening.
"That would be hurtful for global risk appetite, and in that would hurt the kiwi against the US dollar, we think," Mr Speizer said.
"So markets are pretty much sitting on their hands until they know what's going on there."
Just after 5pm, the New Zealand dollar was buying 83.10 US cents, 88.94 Australian cents, 51.13 pence, 0.6136 euro and 81.59 yen.
The share market was also little changed, with the NZX Top 50 Index closing 7 points higher at 4744.
Tyndall Investment Management head of equities Rickey Ward said the market was fairly quiet on Tuesday, reflecting end-of-quarter report writing by the investment community, combined with the holiday period.
"I guess the market goes into hibernation, pretty well much, this time of year, and this year's no different," Mr Ward said.
However, it had been a good day for Hellaby Holdings, which had bought Australian battery wholesaler Ryde Batteries for about $A12 million in a bolt-on acquisition. The purchase was further evidence Hellaby was on the acquisition trail, and investors were backing its ability to do so, he said.
Hellaby shares rose 4 cents to $2.90, Z Energy gained 4 cents to $3.88 and Sky TV climbed 6 cents to $5.88.
Mr Ward said there had been a reasonable amount of buying of Z Energy shares in the past few weeks.
"We understand that's on the back of an expectation that the result which will be released November-ish will probably be better than the investment statements presented at the time of the IPO (initial public offering)," he said.
Tyndall has about $500 million in funds under management.
