The New Zealand dollar reached a two-month high against the greenback last night and slipped only slightly from that level as poor economic news continued to come out of the United States.The kiwi peaked around US74.40c, and by 8am was at US74.29c from US
The New Zealand dollar reached a two-month high against the greenback last night and slipped only slightly from that level as poor economic news continued to come out of the United States.
The kiwi peaked around US74.40c, and by 8am was at US74.29c from US74.06c at 5pm yesterday.
During the day yesterday the New Zealand currency received support from a stronger than expected employment report in Australia, while overnight economic reports showed US retail sales unexpectedly fell in December from November and jobless claims rose last week.
Analysts said the combination of that data with a weaker-than-expected payrolls report last Friday raised concern about the outlook for the global economy.
The kiwi opened locally at A79.75c against the Australian dollar, marginally higher than its level at 5pm, having lost some ground against the aussie yesterday.
The NZ dollar was up to 0.5120 euro at 8am from 0.5094 at the local close but dropped to 67.55 yen from 67.94. The trade weighted index was 66.89 at 8am from 66.79 at 5pm.
Overnight the European Central Bank kept its rate policy unchanged, as expected, and president Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated the importance of a strong US dollar.
