The New Zealand dollar gained after a key US employment report failed to meet expectations, pushing out the likely timing of US interest rate hikes.
The kiwi advanced to 74.85 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 74.86 cents at the New York close and 74.55 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Friday. The trade-weighted index rose to 77.31 from 77.08 on Friday.
Traders pushed out their expectations for US interest rate rises until at least September after key non-farm payrolls figures were revised lower for previous periods, and the latest figures were a touch softer than expectations, showing 223,000 jobs were added in April, compared with the 225,000 expected.
Investors were also concerned about the subdued hourly earnings figures which advanced just 0.1 per cent in the latest month, missing expectations for a 0.2 per cent gain, taking the annual pace of growth to 2.2 per cent.
"Despite the headline result meeting expectations, the data disappointed marginally, with negative revisions to March non-farm payrolls growth and average hourly earnings remaining subdued," ANZ Bank New Zealand senior economist Philip Borkin and senior FX strategist Sam Tuck said in a note.
