NZ dollar pushes higher vs greenback

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar continued to gain some of the ground lost to the greenback last week as investors found more of their appetite for risk.

By 8am today the kiwi was buying US71.24c, up from US71.02c at 5pm yesterday.

BNZ markets strategist Mike Jones said that reduced fears about the health of the global economy and strong gains in global equity markets buoyed investors' risk appetite overnight, underpinning gains in growth-sensitive currencies such as the NZ dollar.

With solid Irish and Spanish bond auctions easing concerns about heavily indebted euro zone countries, the euro rose against the US dollar and rebounded from a seven-week low against the yen.

But the euro struggled to hold above US$1.29 on uneasiness about the bloc's economic outlook, with a key German survey sparking concerns about whether Europe's largest economy can sustain a solid recovery.

The German ZEW institute's measure of investor and analyst economic sentiment dropped well below forecasts, though this was partly offset by an unexpectedly sharp jump in the current conditions index.

The NZ dollar was little changed against the European currency, compared to its level at the local close, buying 0.5531 euro at 8am, while strengthening to 60.90 yen at the local open from 60.60 at 5pm.

The kiwi's shaky position against the Australian dollar continued, falling at one point to a 3-1/2-month low around A78.50c. By 8am the NZ dollar was up a little from that level to A78.68c, but still slightly lower than at the local close.

The trade weighted index was 66.33 at 8am from 66.20 at 5pm.

- NZPA