The New Zealand dollar rose to a new high against the euro and touched a 4 ½-month high versus the greenback as the nation's resilient economy and relatively appealing interest rates lured investors in the face of mixed global signals.
The New Zealand dollar rose as high as 63.20 euro cents, the highest since the common currency was issued in 2002, from 62.41 cents late yesterday. It rose to as high as 82.99 US cents, the highest since September, from 82.30 cents yesterday and recently traded at 82.49 cents.
While traders have been heartened by Europe's progress toward an agreement on controlling its member states' deficits, negotiations to allow Greece to get its next slice of financial aid have been stalling. Meantime, the kiwi's gains against the US dollar overnight were eroded when American data printed weaker than expected, sapping optimism the world's biggest economy is on a firm path to recovery.
"This is the first time in two or three months that we have had weaker-than-expected US data and we have seen the kiwi perform extremely well," said Stu Ive, currency strategists at HiFX.
European leaders yesterday agreed on a new treaty that allows the enforcement of stricter budget discipline. Britain and the Czech Republic opted out of the pact. In Greece, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said progress had been made in debt-swap talks with the nation's bondholders and he wanted to bring the negotiations "to a successful conclusion by the end of the week."
