NZ dollar continues to climb

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar continued to climb overnight, ending the week on a stronger note than the start.

By 8am today the NZ dollar was buying 71.44c from US71.28c at 5pm yesterday, after reaching a high of nearly US71.80c overnight.

The kiwi has galloped higher in the last couple days after dropping on the first two days of the week, dragged down by falling business confidence and the collapse of South Canterbury Finance on Tuesday.

BNZ markets strategist Mike Jones said yesterday's higher Fonterra online milkpowder prices proved a boon for the NZ/US dollar cross over the past 24 hours, and Australia's disappointing trade data provided additional support.

Against the Australian dollar, the weak data pushed the Kiwi up yesterday, but this morning lost some of the gains. It started the day at 78.37c, after reaching up to 79c overnight, from 78.61c at 5pm yesterday.

Attention today will turn to offshore factors as United States economic data takes the spotlight.

The NZ dollar also lost steam against the euro, falling to 0.5570 euro at 8am today from 0.5572 at 5pm yesterday. Against the yen, it rose to 60.17 yen from 59.99.

The trade weighted index was 66.44 at 8am from 66.38 at 5pm yesterday.

- NZPA