Kiwi climbs as Aussie hit by fears

The New Zealand dollar rose to an eight-month high against the Aussie dollar and climbed against the greenback as iron ore prices continued to slide amid fears of a trade war sparked by US tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The kiwi dollar rose to 94.12 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 93.70 cents on Friday in New York. The kiwi rose to 72.73 US cents from 72.33 cents while the tradeweighted index climbed to 74.64 from 74.33.

Iron ore prices have fallen to fourmonth lows, denting the Aussie as the currency of a major exporter, while dairy product futures have been relatively more resilient.

The kiwi has also been assisted by upbeat comments from Reserve Bank governor-designate Adrian Orr, who said he was “very, very pleased with the economic state of New Zealand over recent years.”

The US dollar index sank to its lowest level in about a month.

“Adrian Orr said the economy is in a pretty healthy state,” said Martin Rudings, a senior dealer at OMF.

“That always works for people who are looking for something to buy.”

The kiwi dollar rose to 51.33 British pence from 51.14 pence in New York on Friday and gained to 58.77 euro cents from 58.56 cents.

It rose to 4.5909 yuan from 4.5654 yuan and gained to 76.29 yen from 75.76 yen.

New Zealand’s two-year swap rate rose 1 basis point to 2.23 per cent and the 10-year swap rate rose 2 basis points to 3.12 per cent.