The New Zealand dollar reached an 11-week high against its Australian counterpart but slipped against the greenback and yen as risk aversion re-emerged.
By 8am today the kiwi was buying US56.08c from US56.46c at 5pm yesterday. The NZ dollar also slipped to 54.46 yen from 55.18.
Against the aussie, the
NZ dollar topped A82.80c last night and remained in a tight range after that to be at A82.71c by the local open.
Fears of bankruptcy for US automakers General Motors and Chrysler prompted investors to seek safety in the US and Japanese currencies.
"(There) is a reemergence of risk aversion and that has obviously been spurred on by what's going on with both GM and Chrysler," said Matt Esteve, a foreign exchange trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
"With markets around the world tumbling ... investors are flocking back to the (US) dollar and also to the Japanese yen."
The NZ dollar edged up against the European currency to 0.4263 euro at 8am from 0.4253 at 5pm. The trade weighted index slipped to 56.51 from 56.59.
The euro continued to retreat from last week's two-month high above US$1.37, falling below US$1.32 after Spain was forced to take over a regional savings bank, while Standard & Poor's cut the credit ratings of Hungary and Ireland.
- NZPA
