A strong kiwi dollar shrugged off weak data from the US to post gains against sterling on Friday

Sterling relinquished gains against the kiwi dollar on Friday, as concerns mounted over the strength of the global recovery, with the price closing the week at 2.2269.

• Following the release of worse-than-expected jobs data in the US, risk adverse investors bought into dollar and yen havens on Friday, weakening the higher-yielding, ‘risky’ assets.
  
• However, the kiwi rebounded strongly in afternoon trading, as investors turned bearish in their sentiment towards the US recovery.
  
• The weak employment data added to concerns that the US recovery is struggling to take hold, and, after an initially flurry of dollar buying, many investors opted against the relative ‘safety’ of US assets.
  
• In trading this morning, the price has dropped back below 2.22 as the New Zealand currency tracked the strength of its aussie counterpart.
  
• Heightened speculation of an imminent rate rise in Australia has supported higher-yielding currencies this morning, and the kiwi could find further support as investors await expectations of improved New Zealand business confidence in a survey released today at 22:00BST.