KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar surged to three-week highs against major currencies as the higher-yielding kiwi and Australian currencies were boosted on rising risk appetite.
The greenback fell broadly as investors focused on the expected positive impacts of a United States bank bailout package on the global economy, weakening some of the safe-haven bid for the US currency.
The NZ dollar climbed from US52.68c at 5pm yesterday to around US54.45c early today before easing to US54.07c by 8am.
The kiwi also got near 0.4170 euro from 0.4075 at 5pm, and by the local open was buying 0.4149.
Against the yen the NZ dollar climbed to around 49.90 from 48.20 at the local close, then eased to 49.55 by 8am.
The kiwi rose to a week-high against the Australian dollar, getting to A79.7c from A78.8c at the local close. By 8am the NZ dollar was at A79.57c.
- NZPA
