NZ dollar rises slightly

File photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand dollar rose on a day in which China reported strong economic data and the local equity market bounced back well from a decline yesterday.

The NZ dollar rose to US73.70c at 5pm from US73.54c at 8am and US73.57c at 5pm yesterday. As is often the case it had a wild ride overnight on Thursday when it rose as high as US74.10c before diving a cent in 2-1/2 hours to around US73.10c.

The main even on the domestic session today was news that China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 53.8 in September from 51.7 in August, which exceeded the 52 economists were expecting. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.

A strong Chinese economy is good news for exporters. The strength in China's economy is a contrast to weakness in the United States economy.

"The data was stronger than expectations and was pretty much the move on the day," said Murray Hindley, chief currency dealer at ANZ.

Once again the NZ dollar could not sustain an overnight rally during its domestic session.

The Australian dollar also edged up to US96.82c at 5pm from US96.66c the same time yesterday.

The NZ dollar has been lower against the euro after it was buoyed by data showing banks in the euro zone are relying less on funds from the European Central Bank.

The NZ dollar was 0.5395 euro at 5pm from 0.5410 euro at the same time yesterday.

It was little changed at A76.10c from A76.07c yesterday and was 61.43 yen from 61.49 yen.

The trade weighted index was 66.27 at 5pm from 66.28 yesterday.

- NZPA