The New Zealand dollar pushed up on Friday, helped by a weaker US currency and after better-than-expected gross domestic product data suggested the economy will only suffer a mild recession. The kiwi rose about half a cent after data showed the economy contracted by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent during the second quarter, better than the 0.5 percent drop forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
The data confirmed the economy was in its first recession in over a decade but did little to alter the interest rate outlook and investors quickly shifted their focus back to the US financial turmoil. "Currencies are trading off global events," said Westpac market economist Michael Gordon. The kiwi was at $0.6870/80 compared with $0.6857/63 in late local trade on Thursday and around $0.6825 before the GDP data was released.