KEY POINTS:
After a wild ride, the New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback from early afternoon yesterday.
The kiwi jumped from US78.15c to US79.20c by 9am yesterday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point, then over the next four hours it fell back to US77.55c.
From around 1pm the kiwi trended upwards and by 8am today was buying US78.81c.
ANZ bank today said the NZ dollar had benefited from a rise on US equity markets overnight.
US share indexes rose after executives at MBIA Inc, a major bond insurer, offered reassurances about the company's outlook.
The kiwi was also up overnight against the yen and euro, buying 0.5307 euro at 8am from 0.5260 at 5pm yesterday, and 83.93 yen from 83.01.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said the overnight improvement in US share prices had increased investors' appetite for carry trade currencies such as the kiwi against the yen.
The NZ dollar had surged from around 82.50 yen to above 84, dragging the US dollar to its overnight high.
Against the Australian dollar the kiwi was little changed overnight, buying A87.80c at 8am today from A87.85c at 5pm yesterday. The trade weighted index was 72.13 from 71.59.
The greenback was edging higher against the euro as dealers cut bets against the US currency a day ahead of a US jobs report for January that may shed light on how close the US economy is to recession.
- NZPA
