The kiwi was up 77.20 Australian cents from 77.09 cents yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell
The New Zealand dollar gained as investors fled the euro after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded nine European nations, including regional powerhouse France.
The New Zealand rose to 62.61 euro cents just before 8am from 61.23 cents on Friday and gained to 79.23 US cents from 79.06 cents.
The
euro sank as much as 1.8 per cent as investors fled the single currency after S&P downgraded nine European nations, saying it was disappointed with policymakers' efforts to cut a deal that would stave off a regional debt crisis.
France and Austria ratings were cut one level to AA+ from AAA, with negative outlooks. Finland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg kept their AAA ratings they were placed on negative watch. S&P also downgraded Italy, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus by two steps and cut Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one level.
"The New Zealand dollar has been resilient to these reactions from the euro," said Stuart Ive, currency strategist at HiFX. "We are reacting with it but we are coming back a lot quicker."
