Trade boosts dollar

The New Zealand dollar rose as the mood in equities markets around the world improved and the currency got a kicker from trade data showing local exports held up well through the nation’s lockdown. The kiwi was trading at 61.26 US cents at 5pm, up from 60.97 cents at the same time on Monday. The trade-weighted index was at 69.23 from 69.04. Yesterday’s data showed New Zealand posted a record monthly trade surplus of $1.3 billion in April after imports sank 22 per cent to $4b in the steepest decline since October 2009. The dollar was trading at 93.23 Australian cents at 5pm from 93.27 cents at the same time on Monday. It was at 50.13 British pence from 50.07 pence, at 56.10 euro cents from 55.98 cents, at 66.06 yen from 65.63 yen and at 4.3690 Chinese yuan from 4.3522.