Kiwi dollar rises from 10-month low as weak Chinese export data stoke concern

The kiwi declined to 71.69 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 71.87 cents yesterday. Photo / 123RF

The New Zealand dollar rose from a 10-month low as weaker-than-expected Chinese trade figures deflated some optimism in global markets that's been underpinning the greenback's strength.

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The kiwi gained to 70.88 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 70.57 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index increased to 76.25 from 76.04.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's 'fear gauge', rose 2.6 per cent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.1 per cent as traders latched on to Chinese data yesterday showing import and export growth in the world's second-biggest economy were weaker than expected. That weighed on the greenback, which has been supported in recent weeks by growing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates, while New Zealand's currency has been weighed on by the prospect of the Reserve Bank lowering the official cash rate later this year.

"Sentiment appeared to be affected by yesterday afternoon's China's weak trade data, equities and bond yields lower," Westpac Banking Corp senior market strategist Imre Speizer said in a note.

"The US dollar is also lower, allowing AUD/USD and NZD/USD to rebound."

The kiwi rose to 4.7686 Chinese yuan from 4.7444 yuan yesterday on the trade data, and gained to 73.46 yen from 73.25 yen.

There is no major local data scheduled for release today.

The New Zealand dollar increased to 64.17 euro cents from 63.99 cents yesterday as support for Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union party led by chancellor Angela Merkel is at an all-time low over the nation's refugee crisis. The kiwi was unchanged at 57.88 British pence and at 93.61 Australian cents.