NZ dollar hits two-week high against greenback

Monday 6th December 2010

The New Zealand dollar rose to a fortnight high against the greenback after much weaker than expected non-farm payroll data in the United States.

At 8am today the kiwi was around the highs at US76.71c, having climbed from US75.44c at 5pm on Friday.

The US dollar dropped across the board after data around 2.30am on Saturday showed US non-farm payrolls rose 39,000 last month, much weaker than expectations for 140,000 new jobs. The US unemployment rate increased to 9.8%.

Around the same time the kiwi dipped to a month low against the Australian dollar, to near A76.90c, then improved to be at A77.35c by 8am today, slightly down from the Friday evening level.

ANZ bank said the much weaker than expected US jobs data delivered expected upside moves for the Australasian currencies.

The resulting US dollar weakness drove up commodity prices, helping the NZ dollar further.

The euro rallied sharply versus the US dollar after the weak jobs data, gaining for a third straight day, but the single currency is expected to remain under pressure as concerns about euro-zone debt problems persist.

The NZ dollar was little changed at 0.5718 euros at 8am today, while the kiwi was up to 63.40 yen from 63.16 at 5pm on Friday. The trade weighted index rose to 68.85 at 8am today from 68.51 at 5pm on Friday.

NZPA

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