Kiwi up ahead of US employment data

The New Zealand dollar rose against the greenback today, after confirmation from ratings agency Standard & Poors that the country's AA currency position was stable.

The Kiwi recently traded at US81.30c, up from US80.86c earlier. On the Trade Weighted Index against major trading partners' currencies it was at 73.30, up from 73.10 in the morning.

"Standard and Poors affirmed New Zealand's credit ratings and painted a reasonably positive assessment of the country, and we had an uptick from that point on," Westpac Banking Corp market strategist Imre Speizer said.

The Kiwi lost a lot of ground overnight immediately after the European Central Bank press conference didn't deliver strong promise of stimulus the market had hoped for.

Tonight markets will be looking towards the United States employment non-farm payroll data.

"I think when the London market comes on tonight they'll look at markets with fresh eyes knowing they got disappointed last night. We might see the kiwi fall again, it depends what London market does, we can't read too much into this modest strength."

On the crosses the Kiwi recently traded at 77.58 Australian cents, up from A77.34c. It was at 66.76 euro cents, up from 66.68 euro cents earlier. It was at 63.58 Japanese yen, up from 63.25 yen earlier. It was at 52.39 pence, up from 52.14 pence earlier.

Speizer expected the kiwi to trade between US80.80c and US81.50c, with a bias towards the downside.

- © Fairfax NZ News