KEY POINTS:
For the first time since being floated 22 years ago, the New Zealand dollar has topped US77c against the greenback.
The kiwi moved through the level early today, peaking around 5am at US77.11c then easing to be around US76.90c by 8am.
Despite all the recent interventions by the Reserve Bank to cool the dollar down, the rampant trade in our currency has continued unabated. It was the third time this week the kiwi hit a post-float high.
The ANZ bank today said buyers had emerged to take advantage of a short-lived unwind in the carry trade - in which investors borrow low interest currencies to invest in higher yielding assets.
And the kiwi could climb even higher.
A strong first quarter GDP figure today could well see the kiwi attempt another new high, ANZ said.
The NZ dollar showed a similar pattern against the euro, climbing from around 0.5630 early yesterday to a near 17-month high of 0.5730 today.
Similarly with the yen, the kiwi climbed from its lowest level in 1-1/2 weeks around 92.60 early yesterday to peak at 94.87.
The pattern against the Australian dollar was somewhat different, with the kiwi having generally trended upwards against its trans-Tasman counterpart for the past three weeks.
It peeked above A91c at mid-morning yesterday for the first time since February 2006 and made a few other brief forays above that level since, the latest around 3am.
By 8am the NZ dollar was buying around A90.90c, barely changed from its level at 5pm yesterday.
The trade weighted index was at 74.79 at 8am today from 74.40 at 5pm yesterday, having also hit a post-float high early today, of 74.86.
The main data yesterday was a first quarter current account improvement to 8.5 per cent of gross domestic product, from 9 per cent of GDP in the December quarter.
That matched Reserve Bank expectations, but the figure remained one of the worst of any March quarters in the past decade.
Also out yesterday was the monthly National Bank Business Outlook, which showed a net 37 per cent of respondents expect conditions to deteriorate, down from May's reading of 48 per cent.
Firms' own activity expectations also rebounded, with a net 15 per cent expecting an improvement against 8 per cent last month.
- NZPA