NZ dollar starts week near recent highs

The New Zealand dollar started the week near recent highs as the markets look ahead to the Reserve Bank's interest rate review on Thursday.

Westpac senior market strategist Imre Speizer said that overnight Friday, better risk appetite lifted equities, commodities, risk currencies and United States yields.

Greece formally requested aid from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, leading to a sigh of relief from markets that a rescue process was finally under way.

By 8am today the NZ dollar was buying US71.69c, rising from US71.10c at 5pm Friday and having peaked on Saturday morning near US71.80c, its highest level in nearly two weeks.

The kiwi also reached a three-month high 67.46 yen on Saturday, easing slightly to 67.38 at the local open today, up from 66.39 yen at Friday's local close.

From A77.07c against the Australian dollar at 5pm Friday, the kiwi climbed to its highest level in nearly four weeks, close to A77.50c, early on Saturday, and by 8am had eased just slightly to A77.43c.

Against the euro, the kiwi peaked at a 26-month high on Friday evening around 0.5380, fell away and then climbed back to be at 0.5373 at today's local open. The trade weighted index rose from 66.37 at 5pm on Friday to 66.76 at 8am on Monday.

BNZ strategist Mike Jones said as string of upbeat global data last week reinforced the notion the global economy was recovering strongly, conferring support to equity markets and growth-sensitive currencies such as the NZ dollar.

The kiwi had now spent the better part of the past 1-1/2 months chopping about in a range between US70c and US72c, Jones said.

Against the greenback, the NZ dollar had been torn between an improving global backdrop, and the generally tepid pace of the New Zealand economic recovery.

- NZPA