NZ dollar rises on Greek austerity vote

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The New Zealand dollar rose as investors' appetite for higher yielding, or riskier, assets surged as Greece's parliament passed the first of two austerity measures.

Global stocks rose for third day as sentiment in the market surged just ahead of the Greek vote, which cleared the way for a 12 billion euro payment from the European Union and International Monetary Fund needed to stave off a default.

On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.8 per cent to 1,306.57, while Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed 1.7 per cent to 269.8.

The Thompson Reuters CRB Index, a measure of 19 hard and soft commodities, gained 1.3 to 338.8.

That saw demand for so-called growth-sensitive currencies rise sharply, with the kiwi dollar the best performer against the U.S. dollar in the London and New York sessions.

"It's the combination of rising risk appetites and commodity prices that's helping to support risk currencies," said Mike Burrowes, a market strategist at Bank of New Zealand.

"The rally was all in the lead up to that vote, and it's just held out since then."

The kiwi gained to 82.30 US cents from 81.85 cents yesterday, and increased to 70.98 on the trade-weighted index of major trading partners' currencies from 70.81.

It rose to 77.28 Australian cents from 76.24 cents yesterday, and gained to 66.56 yen from 66.34 yen.

It rose to 57.05 euro cents from 56.89 cents yesterday, and climbed to 51.26 pence from 51.10 pence previously.

The kiwi climbed to a fresh post float high of 51.38 pence as higher inflation risks in the UK and a tepid economic outlook weighed on the British currency.

Local data will keep traders occupied, with the National Bank Business Outlook survey for June and May's building consents out today.

The kiwi may trade between 82 US cents and 82.90 cents, Burrowes said, with the bias towards the upside.