The New Zealand dollar has pushed to its highest level against the faltering greenback in nearly six weeks as investors continued to show an appetite for risk.At 8am today the NZ dollar was near the overnight high, buying US73.44c, up from US72.94c at 5pm
The New Zealand dollar has pushed to its highest level against the faltering greenback in nearly six weeks as investors continued to show an appetite for risk.
At 8am today the NZ dollar was near the overnight high, buying US73.44c, up from US72.94c at 5pm yesterday.
BNZ markets strategist Mike Jones said not much was happening in offshore markets overnight.
Rather, the weekend's release of upbeat Chinese data and new global banking rules that were less onerous than expected ensured investors' risk appetite remained well supported.
A clear reduction in safe haven demand had spurred a broad-based decline in the US dollar.
"There's no doubt that risk appetite has returned, and the strong Chinese data reduces the risk of a global double-dip recession," said Matthew Strauss, senior strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
Data showed Chinese factories ramped up production last month and money growth beat expectations, backing the view that the markets outlook had grown too gloomy.
With Australia a top supplier of raw materials to China, the high-yielding Australian dollar reached a five-month peak of US93.62c.
The NZ dollar spiked up to around A78.70c at one point overnight but quickly fell away and by 8am was at A78.50c, just slightly ahead of its level at 5pm.
The kiwi was also just slightly ahead of its 5pm levels against the European and Japanese currencies, at 0.5705 euro and 61.46 yen at 8am. The trade weighted index rose to 67.75 at 8am from 67.59 at 5pm.
