Kiwi above US79c for most of overnight session

Friday 15th April 2011

The New Zealand dollar spent most of the overnight session hovering near five-month highs above US79c against the greenback.

At 8am the kiwi was buying US79.35c, little changed from its level at 5pm yesterday, having briefly spiked above US79.50c last night.

ANZ Bank said attempts to move the NZ dollar lower had been swamped by those comfortable to continue selling US dollars.

The 11.8% rise by the NZ dollar from lows during the past month was "truly phenomenal" by any standards, ANZ said.

Today the question was whether the NZ dollar could break above US80c and close the week above it. Chinese economic data due this afternoon may hold the key.

The broad fall in the US dollar saw the greenback reaching a record low against the Swiss franc, with more weakness likely so long as US Federal Reserve and European Central bank policies continue to diverge.

US economic numbers kept intact expectations the Federal Reserve's US$600 billion asset-buying programme will stay in place until June.

The euro, in contrast, remained supported by the prospect of higher interest rates in the euro zone, despite comments by Germany that Greece may need to restructure its debt.

The NZ dollar stayed in a tight band against the European currency overnight, buying 0.5475 euro at 8am, little changed from the level at 5pm.

The kiwi slipped to A75.24c at 8am against the Australian dollar from A75.45c at 5pm, and was also down to 66.22 yen from 66.30. The trade weighted index was down to 68.74 from 68.88.

NZPA

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