The New Zealand dollar rose after German Chancellor Angela Merkel provided a boost to the euro-zone, signalling her conditional support to the European Central Bank's bond buying programme.
The New Zealand dollar rose as high as 81.16 US cents overnight, trading at 80.97 at 8am from 80.59 cents at 5pm on Thursday.
The trade weighted index increased to 72.95 from 72.81.
Dr Merkel reiterated her commitment to working with the ECB to resolve the region's debt crisis and to help reduce the borrowing costs of indebted nations, in her first public comment on the turmoil in over a month.
"Markets have taken the news at face value - it's a good news story and the New Zealand dollar has rallied," said Stuart Ive, currency strategist at HiFX.
"Merkel is supposedly showing her allegiance to the ECB but it's what it doesn't say, the details - the bonds are under conditions which Spain and Greece don't like."
Spain will apply for aid at a meeting of finance ministers in September, allowing the ECB to buy Spanish government debt in the secondary market once approval is won, Bloomberg reported.
The New Zealand dollar fell to 65.54 euro cents from 65.85 cents on Thursday, but gained to 77.03 Australian cents from 76.86 cents and to 64.27 yen from 63.91 yen.
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