NZ dollar rises as Greece parliament approves austerity
Dollar hits post-float high against pound.
The New Zealand dollar rose as risk sentiment lifted with the Greek Parliament approving austerity measures needed to avoid a loan default, and oil prices spiked.
At 8am the kiwi was buying US82.47c, around its highest level in nearly three weeks, having risen through the night from US81.28c at 5pm.
Overnight the NZ dollar also powered to a new post-float high against the British currency near 51.40p.
ANZ bank said a quiet local session yesterday for the NZ dollar had cleverly disguised the action to come.
"The passage of the Greece austerity measures, despite riots as a result, meant an extreme level of positivity hit the market lifting the EUR and NZD," ANZ said.
A wave of buyers had found little supply overnight, resulting in the NZ dollar carving through resistance levels, and today it may find an edge over other currencies as supply continued to remain lower than demand.
The NZ dollar was up to 0.5713 euros at 8am from 0.5656 at 5pm, rose to 66.65 yen from 65.90 yen and edged up to A77.23c against the Australian dollar from A77.06c. The trade weighted index was 71.09 at 8am from 70.38.
The euro rose against the United States dollar after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won a parliamentary majority in favour of a five-year austerity plan, clearing a major hurdle in Greece's bid to win access to international funding.
Greece's government must now win approval for legislation detailing specific implementation measures for the 28 billion euro ($NZ49b) austerity package.
NZPA
Thu, 30 Jun 2011
Thu, 30 Jun 2011
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NZ dollar rises as Greece parliament approves austerity
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