A currency strategist says the New Zealand dollar is "yo-yoing" today as traders react to news headlines from the United States, where a political deal to raise that country's debt ceiling and avoid a default is yet to be reached.
The kiwi was trading at US83.82c just after 7am, before falling to US83.68c an hour later and then climbing back to US83.81 by 9am. It had fallen back to US83.54 by 11.15am.
Earlier this morning, US politicians were reported to be edging closer to reaching a deal as that country's Government entered its 14th day of shutdown.
The White House then announced the talks on raising the US debt limit beyond US$14.7 trillion before the Thursday deadline had been delayed, the BBC reported.
If an agreement is not reached the US could default on its debt and potentially spark global financial chaos.