NZ dollar bumped up by US housing data

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar pushed higher against the greenback early today as data showed sales of previously occupied homes in the United States during July fell to the lowest level in 15 years.

The kiwi had fallen throughout yesterday from US71.25c to nearly US70c shortly after midnight. It then started to move upward, rising sharply to US70.75c just after 2am when the US housing news came out.

But the NZ dollar then started edging lower again and by 8am was at US70.47c.

The ANZ bank said market sentiment was negative through last night's session, weighing on offshore equities and initially sending currencies, the NZ dollar included, lower against the US dollar and the yen.

"The USD's fortunes reversed after abysmal US housing data saw a swift USD sell off, allowing the NZD to move back to mid-range levels," ANZ said.

The NZ dollar dropped to 59.31 yen at 8am from 59.70 at 5pm, and was unchanged against the European currency, buying 0.5560 euro at the local open.

Declines in stock markets and the far weaker-than-expected US housing data helped buoy the yen, which jumped to a 15-year peak against the US dollar on fears the global economy is slowing.

The US dollar did pare losses against the yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the Bank of Japan is considering additional steps to loosen monetary policy.

The euro fell to its lowest against the Swiss franc since the euro's launch in 1999 amid safe haven buying of the Swiss currency.

The NZ dollar rose to A79.72c at 8am against the Australian dollar from A79.19c at 5pm, with the trade weighted index up to 66.13 at 8am from 66.09 at 5pm.

- NZPA