The New Zealand dollar overnight regained a little of the ground it lost against the greenback, amid news of a financial lifeline for Greece and worries about the United States' credit rating.
The New Zealand dollar overnight regained a little of the ground it lost against the greenback, amid news of a financial lifeline for Greece and worries about the United States' credit rating.
Moody's Investors Service said there was a very small but rising risk of a short-lived default by the United States if there was no increase in that country's statutory debt limit in coming weeks.
That boosted the euro which was also helped by a report that euro zone officials had agreed in principle on a new three-year adjustment programme for Greece that would involve increased external funding.
A recent spate of disappointing US data has darkened the US economy's outlook and made the greenback less appealing than higher-yielding currencies. The data coincides with worries about the end of the Federal
Reserve's second round of quantitative easing later this month.
At 8am today the kiwi was buying US81.63c, up from US81.28c at 5pm yesterday, having tumbled yesterday after reaching a post-float high around US82.60c this week.
The NZ dollar was down to 0.5632 euro at 8am from 0.5657 at 5pm, while lifting to 66.04 yen from 65.78. Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was little changed at A76.44c, and edged up to a trade weighted index of 70.21.
BNZ currency strategist Mike Jones said the NZ dollar was caught between offsetting global influences overnight.
While the broad based weakening of the greenback provided a boost for the NZ dollar, investors' subdued appetite for risk weighed on the kiwi, he said.
