NZ dollar recovers slightly

Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand dollar staged a slight recovery today, after being pulled down over concerns around Chinese growth levels.

At about 8am, it was at US72.59 from a low of US72.18 Friday afternoon.

The NZ dollar fell sharply late last week after Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard raised the official cash rate 25 basis points to 3 per cent on Thursday.

Within minutes the NZ dollar fell from around US72.85c to a one-week low of about US72c.

In ANZ's morning brief, it said the kiwi's support levels would be "reluctantly tested" following the Chinese July purchasing managers' index (PMI) release on Sunday.

The PMI fell for the third month in a row, dropping from 52.1 to 51.2.

"It will be an interesting week for the NZ dollar that could be set to benefit off the back of the US dollar weakness," it said.

"Initial moves will be lower on concerns around Chinese growth level but eventually the market will realise that lower growth still trumps no growth."

Against the Australian currency, the kiwi failed to bounce back from its lowest levels since May.

It was A80.07 at 8am from A80.17 on Friday at 5pm.

The NZ dollar did manage to open stronger against the euro to 0.5554 at 8am from 0.5518 at 5pm Friday. It at 62.57 yen from 63.35 at 5pm Friday.

The trade weighted index was up to 67.37 this morning from 67.12 Friday.

- NZPA