The New Zealand dollar gained half a cent on Tuesday as financial markets placed bets the Reserve Bank will be the next major central bank to raise interest rates.
The Kiwi was buying as much as US73.95 cents mid-afternoon and was not far off its 15-month high against the Greenback after stronger-than-expected August retail figures were issued.
Statistics New Zealand says strong homewares and clothing purchases boosted sales volumes 1.1% during August.
The figure was twice economists' expectation of a 0.5% increase for the month and continues monthly gains since April this year.
Money traders again took bets the Reserve Bank will be the next to lift official interest rates, prompting the rise in the dollar.
There are signs that the increase in retail spending has held up since August.
Westfield, the Australian-owned shopping mall operator, says sales lifted again in September.
Craig Wilson, chief executive of hardware chain Mitre 10, says he expects spending to lift further.
