NZ dollar touches week high against US

Photo / Martin Sykes

The New Zealand dollar touched its highest level in a week - and second highest in eight months - against a broadly lower greenback which was weakened by a decline in consumer confidence in the United States to the lowest level since February.

From US73.46c at 5pm, the kiwi edged above US74c for a short time before 7am, easing back to US73.92c by 8am.

The low level of US consumer confidence increased expectations the Federal Reserve will print money to buy assets.

The euro surged to a five-month high against the greenback, smashing a key resistance level and option barriers on its way up, a signal of further gains in the single euro-zone currency.

The yen also firmed, pushing the US dollar to below 84 yen, its weakest since Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market two weeks ago to halt its currency's rise.

The NZ dollar continued to hover around 10-week lows against the euro. Since Friday evening the kiwi has been restricted to a band between about 0.5470 and 0.5435 euro, having fallen from a three-month high above 0.5750 euro in mid-September. At 8am today it was buying 0.5449 euro.

The kiwi moved in a narrow range against the Australian dollar between about A76.50c and a new five-month-plus low under A76.30c, and was at A76.48c around 8am. It edged up to 62.04 yen at 8am from 61.88 at 5pm, while the trade weighted index rose to 66.65 from 66.50.

- NZPA