Currency: Bumpy night for NZ dollar

The New Zealand dollar had a bumpy night as investors continue to assess the impact of the swine flu outbreak.

At 8am the kiwi was buying US56.72c, having climbed to around US57.05c overnight after being at US56.43c at 5pm yesterday.

BNZ Capital currency strategist Danica Hampton said currencies had been on a bit of a roller coaster ride during the 24 hours to 8am.

After falling to nearly US56.20c late yesterday afternoon, the NZ dollar was dragged higher against the greenback by strong gains in the Australian dollar and the British pound.

But the kiwi's strength against the US dollar did not last long, with comments from European Central Bank officials prompting a heavy bout of selling of the euro against the US dollar, Ms Hampton said.

That was enough to knock the NZ dollar back against the greenback.

The euro lost ground against the yen as well as the greenback after comments by European Central Bank governing council member Ewald Nowotny that euro zone rates will stay low for a long time. He also said the ECB is ready to use quantitative easing measures if needed.

The NZ dollar also rose to its highest level in more than a week against the Australian dollar, up to A79.90c at the local open from A79.20c at 5pm yesterday.

The kiwi was lifted to 0.4352 euro at 8am from 0.4287 at yesterday's local close, with the NZ dollar also up to 54.87 yen from 54.60. The trade weighted index was 56.58 at 8am from 56.12 at 5pm.

- NZPA