The New Zealand dollar pushed higher today with the United States dollar tumbling in Asian trading as Lehman Brothers said it would file for bankruptcy.
By 5pm today the NZ dollar was at US66.87c from US66.43c at 8am and US65.37c at 5pm on Friday.
ANZ bank said that
while the Reserve Bank's bigger than expected interest rate cut last week received plenty of attention, the global backdrop was having the bigger say on the NZ dollar for now.
The Lehman situation is fluid and is heightening concerns about the stability of the US financial system.
The reversal of recent US dollar strength left the kiwi in a strong position, ANZ said.
Westpac said the data calendar in New Zealand is quiet this week.
Against the euro, the NZ dollar eased to 0.4650 by 5pm today from 0.4666 at 5pm yesterday.
The kiwi was unchanged from Friday's close of A81.40c.
Against the yen, the kiwi rose to 70.85 at 5pm from 70.08 at 5pm on Friday, while the trade weighted index was 63.19 at 5pm today from 62.69 at 5pm on Friday.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US66.87c US65.37c
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A81.40c A81.40c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4650 0.4666
NZ dlr/yen 70.85 70.08
NZ dlr/stg 37.15p 37.16p
NZ TWI 63.19 62.69
Australian dollar US82.09c US80.28c
Euro/US dollar 1.4380 1.4006
US dollar/yen 105.99 107.20
- NZPA
