NZ dollar makes up ground against Aussie

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar made up some of the ground it lost to the Australian currency after yesterday's stellar job's report across the Tasman.

By 8am today the kiwi was buying A74.44c, up from A74.20c at 5pm yesterday, after having fallen from around A74.70c yesterday afternoon just before data was released showing Australian employment jumped by 37,800 in March, far exceeding expectations of a 22,000 rise.

Boosted by the jobs figures, the Australian dollar topped $US1.05 against the greenback for the first time since it began floating freely in 1983.

The kiwi also pushed a little higher to 0.5441 euro at 8am from 0.5425 at 5pm, with the European Central Bank raising interest rates overnight for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.

The ECB lifted rates by 25 basis points, with ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet signalling the bank was ready to tighten policy further if needed but added that the ECB had not decided if the move was the first in a series.

That dampened market expectations for aggressive interest rate hikes by the ECB, and the euro fell from a 14-month high against the US dollar, which also slipped against the yen after news of the latest earthquake in Japan.

The NZ dollar was up to US77.84c at 8am from US77.61c at 5pm, while being little changed at 66.09 yen.

The trade weighted index lifted to 67.98 at 8am from 67.83 at 5pm.

- NZPA