KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar climbed today as the United States currency sank and equity markets recovered, reducing risk aversion.
But it lost ground against a resurgent Australian dollar.
The NZ dollar was US59.25c at 5pm from US57.08c at 5pm yesterday.
It has climbed from a 5-1/2-year low around US53.50c on Monday night. A cut in US interest rates by half a percentage point shortly before 8am today appeared to have only a brief impact.
The general fall in the US dollar came as investors grew comfortable, paring holdings of the currency given a rise in stock prices around the world.
BNZ currency strategist Danica Hampton said extreme uncertainty about the global outlook was causing dramatic volatility across all asset classes, and the NZ dollar against the greenback was no exception.
The NZ dollar also got to its highest in nearly a week against the Japanese currency, topping 58 yen and by 5pm was buying 58.40 yen from 55.20 at yesterday's local close.
The NZ dollar was at 0.4480 euros from 0.4492 at 5pm.
Against the Australian dollar the NZ dollar slid to A86.70c from A89.45c, while the trade weighted index rose to 58.92 from 58.14.
Currency rates:
5pm today 5pm yesterday
NZ dlr/US dlr US59.25c US57.08c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A86.70c A89.45c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4480 0.4492
NZ dlr/yen 58.40 55.20
NZ dlr/stg 35.75p 35.66p
NZ TWI 58.92 58.14
Australian dollar US68.25 US63.85c
Euro/US dollar 1.3220 1.2715
US dollar/yen 98.36 96.76
- NZPA
