Mr Peters' performance at last night privileges committee hearing was enough for Miss Clark to hold off sacking him today, but many believe he could yet lose his job.
Mr Peters is suspended from his portfolios while the Serious Fraud Office, police and Electoral Commission investigate undeclared donations to his party.
He retains his ministerial warrant along with his pay and privileges.
Mr Peters tried last night to rebut evidence presented by Owen Glenn the day before.
The expatriate billionaire delivered a paper trail of phone records and emails he said proved Mr Peters had asked for a $100,000 donation in December 2005, and had thanked him for it in January 2006.
But last night Mr Peters again denied any knowledge of the donation until July this year, when he said his lawyer, Brian Henry, told him about it.
Miss Clark said key issues remained unresolved in the face of conflicting evidence and Mr Peters still deserved due process.
"Obviously there was a lot of debate around whether Mr Peters would mount any defence...and it seemed to me he raised enough issues for there to be no premature action today."
Mr Peters last night insisted, again, that it was Mr Henry who asked Mr Glenn for the money, but the testimony left many key questions unanswered.
The committee will meet again on Tuesday, when Mr Henry will be called to explain an email he sent to Mr Glenn which referred to a conversation with "my client at 1.30 NZT" and in which he gave his bank details.
This email came minutes after Mr Glenn says he discussed the donation with Mr Peters in a documented phone call.
Mr Peters last night admitted he had spoken to Mr Glenn at that time, but that money was not discussed.
Mr Peters acknowledged he may have asked Mr Henry to pass on his details - even though he had no recollection of doing so - but Mr Henry said in a letter to the committee that the client referred to in the email was someone else.
Last night Mr Peters also conceded it was likely he was the client referred to, though he changed his position on this.
Miss Clark said she was withholding judgment.
"Those are issues that are going to have to be addressed when Mr Henry comes before the committee, but I think the process has to be able to move on until then," Miss Clark said.
Asked if she could sack Mr Peters after Tuesday's hearing or would wait for the committee's report due by September 23, Miss Clark said she was not ruling anything in or out.
National's deputy leader Bill English said the reason Miss Clark did not sack Mr Peters today was because she was too close to the affair.
Miss Clark has said Mr Glenn told her of the donation in February - a fact she did not reveal until this month.
In Parliament today, Mr English tried to drag Miss Clark and Labour further into the political storm surrounding Mr Peters.
Mr English said Mr Glenn's claim that he had consulted Labour Party president Mike Williams before making the loans, meant Miss Clark must also have approved it taking place.
Both Mr Williams and Miss Clark have denied this.
Miss Clark said the scandal was not about her.
"The National Party have only one target and that's me. This is not about me. This is an issue primarily about whether the truth was told and that is something that Mr Peters and Mr Glenn are squaring off over at the privileges committee."
In Parliament today, Mr Peters said he now had four witnesses to say Mr Glenn's version of events at the Karaka yearling thoroughbred sales could not possibly be correct.
Mr Glenn says Mr Peters thanked him for his donation in February 2006 at the sales and produced a statement from horse trainer Paul Moroney to back it up.
In Parliament, Mr Peters tabled a statement from Vela Group company director Donald McIlraith saying he hosted Mr Glenn on the day in question.
Mr McIlraith said he saw the pair talking after lunch, but he thought by then Mr Moroney had left.
Mr Moroney said today he was sticking by his version of events.
