The New Zealand dollar rose after a key US employment report failed to meet expectations, weighing on the greenback.
The kiwi jumped to 77.72 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 77.51 cents at the New York close and 76.66 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Friday. The trade-weighted index
advanced to 76.96 from 76.32 on Friday.
A report late last week showed US employers added 214,000 non-farm payrolls in October, only slightly below economist expectations of around 235,000 but significantly lagging the 300,000 expectation of some traders. The US dollar had advanced ahead of the data and some investors may have sold the currency for a profit following the report, traders said.
"The US payrolls missed slightly but I would have to say that they are still creating over 200,000 jobs a month, I still think that they are doing OK and despite the US dollar being a little bit weaker post those numbers, the overall trend for the US dollar going forward is probably still going to be higher," said Kevin Morgan, senior dealer, foreign exchange & derivatives at OMF. "The US dollar had a very strong week last week. People on that number would have taken some profits."
