KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar was trading near its 22-year post-float high when the local market opened for the week today, looking ready to go through the US79c level ahead of the release of inflation data.
At 8am the kiwi was buying US78.73c, just under the high of US78.80c hit this month , having been below US78.20c on Friday evening.
A movement up against the United States dollar overnight Friday came as the greenback fell against a basket of six major currencies for the sixth consecutive session on fears the US subprime mortgage crisis could frighten foreign investors away from US credit markets.
A boost in US consumer sentiment for July did little to improve the market's perceptions of the greenback despite a surging US stock market.
The ANZ bank today said the NZ dollar looked poised to spring into US79c territory.
Demand had remained strong for the kiwi across the board after stronger than expected May retail sales data on Friday, ANZ said.
At 8am, the NZ dollar was buying 0.5710 euro from 0.5675 at 5pm on Friday. Against the yen it was at 96.03 this morning from 95.78.
The kiwi was also up against the Australian dollar, buying A90.37c at 8am today from A90.24c on Friday evening.
