Kiwi dollar rises after poor US retail data

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback overnight, briefly topping US68c soon after midnight.

By 8am the NZ dollar had eased slightly to US67.83c, but was still well up from US67.28c at 5pm.

The kiwi has been generally rising since Wednesday evening when it dipped below US66c - its lowest level in more than a week.

The euro and yen also gained on the US dollar as data showed the euro zone's two biggest economies unexpectedly returned to growth in the second quarter of the year.

News that Germany and France pulled out of recession in the April-to-June period contrasted with disappointing US retail sales data for July, which cast a shadow over an anticipated consumer rebound.

New Zealand's retail figures for the June quarter are due out at 10.45am today, but ANZ bank said even if those figures produced a similar surprise to the US data, the impact on the NZ dollar was unlikely to be as negative.

It was hardly surprising the NZ dollar rose overnight, given the insipid US retail sales result, ANZ said.

The NZ dollar opened locally a little higher against other key currencies, buying 0.4755 euro at 8am from 0.4732 at 5pm, and up to 64.76 yen from 64.57.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi opened up at A80.68c from A80.48c at the local close, while the trade weighted index rose to 63.11 at 8am from 62.78 at 5pm.

- NZPA