6 Oct 2009

NZ dollar keeps rising

7:56 pm on 6 October 2009

The New Zealand dollar continued to see-saw on the currency markets on Monday night before reaching a fresh high of 73 US cents on Tuesday - its highest level in over a year.

The rise followed a bounce on Wall Street after better-than-expected economic data in the United States encouraged investors to invest in riskier, high yielding currencies, such as the Kiwi.

After dipping to 71.4 US cents on comments made by Finance Minister Bill English on Monday, the kiwi rebounded following a strong rise in export commodity prices.

The New Zealand dollar pushed higher after Australia's central bank increased interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.25%.

At 5.20pm, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 73.29 US cents, 82.98 Australian cents, 45.91 pence, 65.33 Yen, and 0.4984 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 66.40.