Dollar pushes back over US74c mark

The New Zealand dollar continued to push higher after Fonterra lifted its forecast payout to dairy farmers by 19 per cent and after US stocks rallied on Monday.

The NZ dollar rose to US74.62c around lunchtime, its highest level since October 28, before settling at US74.06c at 5pm from US73.58c at the same time yesterday.

BNZ Capital strategist Mike Jones said the move was a continuation of trading overnight. A fall in the United States dollar to a 15-month low and a late rally in US stocks helped sentiment for the NZ dollar.

The NZ dollar was A79.73c at 5pm, unchanged from the level at 8am, and up from A79.50c yesterday.

Mr Jones thought the NZ dollar would continue to rise.

"The conditions for a bit more US dollar weakness are still in place. There's been quite a strong recovery in risk appetite," he said.

The Group of 20 meeting last weekend failed to signal displeasure with the US dollar.

"That's been taken as a bit of a green light to keep selling US dollars," he said.

The NZ dollar also lifted to 66.58 yen by 5pm from 66.37 at the same time yesterday, but was little moved at 0.4943 euro from 0.4933 yesterday.

The trade weighted index lifted to 65.95 from 65.72.

- NZPA