NZD up after Greek austerity approved

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback today after a very lean budget was adopted by Greek officials, securing the indebted nation's next bailout instalment of 31.5 billion euros.

The kiwi recently traded at US81.61c, up from US81.42c earlier. On the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies it was at 73.00, up from 72.96 in the morning.

ASB Institutional head of institutional FX sales Tim Kelleher said activity in the New Zealand dollar was quiet.

"We have seen it just edge back up slowly on the back of the successful vote in Greek parliament. There was a bit of bargain hunting by exporters but it was really very quiet with the United States and Singapore on holiday," Kelleher said.

"Markets will continue watching for any developments out of Greece. In terms of data, markets will be watching local retail sales figures on Wednesday and Federal Open Markets Committee meeting minutes on Thursday."

On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 78.31 Australian cents, up from A78.26c in the morning. It fell to 64.11 euro cents, down from 64.66 euro cents earlier. It rose to 51.31 pence from 51.14 pence in the morning. Against the Japanese yen, it eased to 64.85 from 64.93 yen earlier.

Kelleher expected the kiwi to trade between US81.25c and US82.00c overnight, picking it would drift sideways.

- © Fairfax NZ News