KEY POINTS:
Further greenback weakness has seen the NZ dollar come within a whisker of US81c.
The kiwi got to US80.98c on Saturday morning, near its post-float high of US81.1c reached in July. It then eased slightly to be at US80.90c by 8am today.
The NZ dollar was also at an eight-week high against the yen at 8am today, when it was buying 86.91 yen, up from 86.50 when the local market closed at 5pm on Friday.
The greenback fell broadly overnight Friday (NZT), hitting a three-week low against the euro, amid mounting fears of a US recession and more credit-related losses.
But a CNBC television report that a bailout for bond insurer Ambac Financial Group was imminent saw US stocks stage a late rally, helping the greenback fight back from earlier troughs against the yen.
The US dollar came under pressure as Thursday's contraction in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's Mid-Atlantic business activity index stoked recession fears, in contrast to the euro zone's surprising growth in the service sector reported on Friday.
The kiwi also rose against other currencies, to A87.58c against the Australian dollar at 8am today from A87.20c at 5pm on Friday, and to 0.5454 euro from 0.5414. The trade weighted index was 73.82 from 73.23.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said the NZ dollar was the strongest performing currency last week, up 1.7 per cent against the greenback, 1.1 per cent against the aussie and about 1.3 per cent on a trade weighted basis.
But she also said there was "no rhyme or reason" for the NZ dollar to climb last week, particularly not against its trans-Tasman counterpart.
- NZPA