NZ dollar jumps against aussie

The New Zealand dollar raced up against the Australian currency after data showed the Australian economy grew at a slower than expected 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.

The kiwi jumped from around A77.25c to A77.60c in the space of a few minutes around 1.30pm, and by 5pm was still near that level, slightly ahead of its A77.51c level at 8am today.

The aussie also fell to a 2-1/2-month low against the US dollar, dropping below A95.40c at one point, although it did get a brief boost from firm Chinese manufacturing data.

The NZ dollar fell away during the day against the greenback, although it held above the two-month low around US73.95c touched shortly after 2am today.

ANZ bank noted the NZ dollar had been dragged reluctantly down overnight on a couple of occasions by the weakening euro, before broad demand lifted the kiwi.

By 5pm the NZ dollar was down to US74.28c, after dropping from US74.57c at 8am when the kiwi was near its overnight high.

The NZ dollar was down to 0.5711 euro at 5pm after reaching a 2-1/2-month high around 0.5735 euro shortly before 8am.

The kiwi also fell to 62.09 yen from 62.35, while the trade weighted index dropped to 67.93 at 5pm from 68.16 at 8am.

- NZPA