The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback as investors drew comfort from firm equity markets ahead of a potentially market-moving Australian employment report.
The kiwi dollar rose to 82.99 US cents at 8 a.m. from 82.86 cents at 5 p.m. yesterday and traded as high as 83.21 US cents overnight. It is expected to have support at 82.90 US cents and there will be resistance at 83.30 US cents.
Equity markets rallied and the gold price retreated from record highs after a court ruling in Germany cleared the way for German support of the euro zone's rescue fund. Investors are also looking ahead to a Group of Seven meeting in France and a speech by US president Barack Obama later this week. There is speculation that Obama may tweak tax rules on money flows into the US.
"There has been relief risk put on overnight on the basis of the German court ruling," said Stuart Ive, a senior dealer at HiFX. "Commodities rallied apart from gold. Gold was hit heavily in the European session. There were big flows out of gold into stocks," he said.
Trans-Tasman currencies were stoked yesterday by a 1.2 per cent expansion in Australia's economy, beating the 0.9 per cent growth picked by analysts.
