The New Zealand dollar surged against the greenback to a one-week high around US72.70c as strong euro zone economic data and US corporate earnings rekindled investors' appetite for risk.By 8am the kiwi had eased back to US72.45c, having climbed from a low
The New Zealand dollar surged against the greenback to a one-week high around US72.70c as strong euro zone economic data and US corporate earnings rekindled investors' appetite for risk.
By 8am the kiwi had eased back to US72.45c, having climbed from a low point below US71c yesterday afternoon.
Data showed surprisingly robust growth in European manufacturing and services, but uncertainty ahead of European bank stress test results, to be published this evening (NZT), prevented a retest by the euro of a recent 10-week high above $US1.30.
The yen erased gains against the greenback and dropped sharply against other currencies as US stocks rallied, improving market sentiment a day after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy outlook for the US economy.
The kiwi pushed to its highest level in a week against the European currency early today, around 0.5635 euro, from 0.5580 euro at 5pm yesterday. By 8am it had eased to 0.5623 euro.
Similarly, the NZ dollar reached a one-week high around 63.30 yen, easing to 62.97 by the local open, having climbed from 61.64 yen at 5pm.
BNZ strategist Mike Jones said the investor community was showing some continued appetite to differentiate between those regions and nations saddled with fiscal issues and deflationary economies, and those with central banks who had a somewhat brighter outlook in the immediate future and knew their treasury cupboards were not bare.
The kiwi fell to A81.13c against the Australian dollar at 8am from A81.31c at the local close as it continued to hover around one-week lows against its trans-Tasman counterpart.
The trade weighted index rose to 67.90 at 8am from 67.26 at 5pm.
