KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar rose almost a cent against the greenback since Friday evening, after having dropped below US66c for the first time in 22 months earlier on Friday.
Around 8am today the kiwi was buying US67.49c from US66.60c at 5pm on Friday.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said the weekend announcement that the United States government was taking control of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was seen as supportive for the US financial sector.
That had triggered a widespread buying back of short yen cross positions, and strong demand for the NZ dollar against the yen had lifted the kiwi against the greenback.
The week ahead was busy for New Zealand with the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Statement on Thursday taking centre stage, she said.
With everyone expecting a 25 basis point-cut in interest rates, most interest was likely to focus on the accompanying macroeconomic and financial forecasts.
The kiwi strengthened against the Japanese currency from 71.09 yen at 5pm on Friday to 73.21 by 8am today.
Against the euro, the NZ dollar was up to 0.4712 from 0.4670, while against the Australian dollar the kiwi rose to A81.91c from A81.70c.
The trade weighted index was 64.09 at 8am today from 63.36 at 5pm on Friday.
The US dollar retreated from 11-month highs versus the euro after government data showed the US economy lost jobs for the eighth straight month and the unemployment rate jumped.
The ongoing weakness in the US labour market cast doubts about the resilience of the US economy, but with European economies in trouble also, the US dollar's uptrend of the past month remained intact.
- NZPA
