NZ dollar reaches 11-month high

The New Zealand dollar pushed to a new 11-month high against the greenback overnight, but then quickly fell away.

By 8am the kiwi was buying US68.45c, little changed from its level at 5pm yesterday, having peaked at US68.98c, according to Reuters data.

ANZ bank said the NZ dollar found itself having yet another attempt to move higher. Heavy selling interests against most currencies put paid to those attempts.

"Having broken new ground overnight, just, the NZD easily reversed the gains. This should be a clear enough signal to many that the (US68c to US69c) congestion zone is not an easy nut to crack," ANZ said.

The NZ dollar also peaked near recent multi-month highs against the Australian dollar and the euro.

Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi peaked around A82c, near the 4-1/2-month high reached overnight Friday. By 8am the NZ dollar was at A81.77c, little changed from the 5pm level.

The NZ dollar also got to 0.481 euro, near the 10-1/2-month high of mid-August. By the local open the kiwi was buying 0.4782 euro from 0.4795 at 5pm.

The kiwi was also at 64.45 yen at the local open, the same as its level at 5pm. The trade weighted index was 63.57 at 8am from 63.66 at the local close.

The US dollar slipped against the euro and yen as upbeat US data and Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve chief pushed some investors to buy higher-yielding currencies and assets.

But the greenback was well off its session low against the euro and managed to rise in thin trade against other major currencies as differing views about how to trade strong US economic data caused divergent price action.

Analysts said some saw the strong US economic data as a signal to buy risky assets, while others expected it to lead to a US recovery and higher interest rates, increasing the US dollar's appeal.

- NZPA